


The Zelkaven Sword

by FireWolf13



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, JYJ (Band)
Genre: A couple of friends helped me with character creation, I write complicated fight scenes, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-08 21:31:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6874390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireWolf13/pseuds/FireWolf13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I've been working on this story for a very long time and have made a lot of changes over several years. Still having difficulty finishing it so I decided to see what happens if I post it. It originally started as a fanfic but then grew into something more. Now I'm back to working it as fanfic to see where it will go. Two characters were created by friends for the purpose of this story. I'm also the one who had done all the editing, so if there are any mistakes, let me know :) This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction so please be kind.<br/>I don't own anyone except the storyline and the characters I created.<br/>I marked the story as Mature because of the violence. Let me know if I should change that. I'm not using mature language but I do get rather descriptive when detailing fight scenes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Synopsis

            The Zelkaven Sword was forged one hundred years ago.  It was supposed to be a weapon to destroy the last bastion of Darkness, the goddess Letalia's temple.  The Dark was nearly destroyed in the land and the people needed one last rallying point.  And so the sword was created.  The attempt to destroy Darkness was doomed to failure.

            First, the best weapon smith in the world was found and asked to create identical twin swords.  Next, twin diamonds had to be found naturally born to hold the magic needed.  And last, but not least, Zel Kaven, last of the master magus, was asked to imbue the swords with magic and make the two swords one.  When wielded, the user was undefeatable.

            What no one knew was that Zel was one of the goddess's most loyal servants.  He embedded the sword with so much dark magic that the diamonds turned blood red as the swords were forged together with magic.  He then cursed the sword to the Dark.

            Zel then wielded the sword himself and killed all of the others involved in the creation of the sword.  He then used the sword to bring Darkness back into the world.  Not soon after, he realized his power with the sword rivaled the gods.  And so he turned on them.  They formed an uneasy truce and fought him off.  Together, they destroyed Zel.  But, in the battle, the sword was lost and not even the gods knew where it fell.

            From that day forward, the Zelkaven Sword was considered a myth.  Many tried to find it, but no one ever did.  The few who know the truth of its existence are waiting for one chosen by the gods to search for the sword.  Whether to wield or destroy it remains to be seen.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is pretty long.

            It was just noon as the man returned to town from his excursion into the woods to check for raiders. He had been noticing less and less since his weekly trips. There had been none to speak of this time. He was doing his best to keep the trails clear for travelers and to keep the village safe for his wife and daughter.

 

            The village was fairly small. It had one tavern, to which the man was heading. He passed by several homes, second one on the right was his, on his way. The only smithy in town was just past the homes and on the right of the town square. The tavern was just beyond that. There was a small store, a letter carrier office, and a butcher’s shop on the left of the square.

 

            Everyone the man passed waved and said “Hi” to him. He would wave or nod in return. He was known to be fairly quiet, except when singing or storytelling. This was his home and had been for the past five years. The people believed him to be a bard. Only his brother, daughter, and three others, not living in this village, knew his true past. A large black wolf was seen with him on occasion but was not present now. She was not comfortable in town, or so it seemed.

 

            The bard carried a sword with him, sheathed at his left side, warrior style. Many speculated, but no one ever asked, that maybe he had trained as a warrior before becoming a bard. He appeared older than his thirty years. His eyes, smoky dark green with golden flecks, hid every trace of what he once was but still seemed to notice everything and stayed constantly alert without seeming to. He wore unassuming clothing, a blue short sleeved shirt, brown jeans, and black hiking boots. He kept his long, dark brown hair tied back at his neck to keep it away from his face and out of his eyes. It was down to the middle of his back.

 

            As he neared the door to the tavern, he heard the sound of swords clashing. He knew the proprietor well and knew he did not allow fighting inside his tavern and would have put a stop to it if he could. The bard pushed open the door, intending to stop the fight, and hit someone heading out.

 

            The young man was about 5’10” and fairly thin but muscular. His right eye was pale green and his left eye was a bright electric blue. His hair was long and dark brown with natural red highlights and covered his ears while shoulder length and tied at the center. He was wearing a dark green tunic, dark brown breeches, and a long black cloak. The boots he wore were an odd shade of red, kind of magenta in color. They seemed made of an unfamiliar material. They were shinier than most normal boots.

 

            As soon as the young man recognized the bard, he pulled him aside quickly, “You should stay out here and wait it out. Those two are seasoned warriors. You’d have no chance in there. I’m leaving before I get hurt.” The bard just smiled and helped the young man out before turning to head in. The young man grabbed his shoulder, “Darian, don’t be reckless. Those two will kill you. One of them, I think his name is Jaejoong, scares me.”

 

            Darian turned to look at the young man, “Don’t worry, Jarith. I’ll be fine. Just keep others from entering until I get things calmed down.” Darian smiled to himself as he walked in and shut the door. He sometimes forgot that those in the village did not know his past. Once inside, he took his time to let his vision adjust to the dimness and to look around.

 

            The tavern looked a shambles. The proprietor was hiding behind the bar. Several customers were cowered in the corners or under the booths. All the tables and chairs were in various stages of knocked over and pushed around. The center of the tavern was cleared except for the two warriors circling each other. As they circled, Darian could tell they were evaluating each other. They were feinting and using other techniques to test each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

 

            As the two warriors faced each other, it was obvious which one had to be Jaejoong. He wore a dark red short sleeve shirt with onyx buttons, a black leather vest, black jeans, black hiking boots, and held a sword in his left hand. Darian had a feeling that he had met Jaejoong before but decided to ignore it. Jaejoong’s eyes were a clear, luminous, warm gold color and he had long black hair tied at his neck down to just below his shoulders. The other warrior was wearing a black shirt, black jeans, and black boots. His eyes were brown and he had short-cropped light brown hair. It was also obvious who the better warrior was. Jaejoong seemed much more at ease with his broadsword and was the more aggressive. The other seemed unused to fighting someone left-handed and his short sword was uncomfortable in his hand.

 

            Darian felt he needed to intervene quickly before blood was shed inside the tavern, “Excuse me, could you two take this outside?” He spoke loud enough for the two warriors to hear him.

 

            Jaejoong stopped short, annoyed. He did not even look at Darian as he responded, “Stay out of this boy! Unless you want to be next!”

 

            Darian answered back, “I do not intend to get involved. But, you are scaring everyone here. You really should take this outside.” He remained calm, hoping that would help settle things down. He had observed Jaejoong’s movements and knew he might have to fight. Jaejoong did not intend to leave the tavern willingly.

 

            “Maybe I should take you outside! I bet you are that _bard_ everyone was talking about. You should talk with your sword. Or is talking all you’re good at? If so, I shall continue and deal with you when I’m done.”

 

            Darian smiled to himself knowing Jaejoong had made a mistake by underestimating his abilities. He wore his sword warrior style for a reason. He had used his trips into the woods to keep his skills sharp as well as to keep the roads safe. Darian refused to betray the memory of the knight who had trained him. “I must admit, I probably am the bard they talked about. But, that does not mean that I don’t know how to use a sword. Although, I would prefer it if you take this outside. I’d prefer not to fight if I don’t have to.”

 

            Jaejoong was furious as he finally turned to face Darian. There was something familiar about Darian to him but he was too angry to pay attention. “Again with the _outside_! I’m sick of you! I’ll go outside! You first though.” He turned to his opponent, “I’ll deal with you later, Colten. I need to deal with this _bard_ first.” Jaejoong then headed towards the door and stopped a few feet from it and looked back at Darian. “After you, _boy_! Let’s see if you can back your words up.”

 

            Darian quietly turned around, smiled to himself, and walked outside. It had not been more than a few minutes since he had walked inside and the sun was blazing outside. He had to let his eyes adjust to the change in light from inside the tavern. Jarith was still at the door and pulled Darian aside.

 

            “Are you mad? He’s a seasoned warrior! He’ll kill you. Raiders are nothing compared to his type.” Jarith seemed really worried. But, before Darian could answer, Jaejoong pushed the door aside and looked at Jarith.

 

            “It’s too late for your bard friend. Watch it, or you’ll be next.” Jarith backed away quickly. He didn’t like the look Jaejoong gave him as he said this.

 

            Darian moved into the town square, where it was more open, feeling that the time for talk was over. Jaejoong followed him. As they faced each other, both drew their swords. Darian adapted himself to Jaejoong’s left-handed technique by switching his long sword to his left hand.

 

            Darian did not believe in circling your opponent. He had been taught that too much of your movements were telegraphed when circling. It was true, you could read your opponent’s movements, but they could read yours as well. He stood his ground and watched Jaejoong carefully as he took up a defensive stance. He gave Jaejoong his full attention.

 

            At this point, the town’s people started to gather at a safe distance. No one had ever actually seen Darian fight. They were surprised to see how he moved easily into a defensive stance, even with his off hand. Many of the older people had seen those of the old knighthood who had trained to use both hands. They also knew of the old rules for engaging in single combat. It was well known that they did not circle each other. But, they had also heard that all of the old knights and students had been killed about seven years ago. They had also been told that the school had been burned down along with the nearby village. Few survived the destruction and none were willing to talk about it. The knights had been a force for balance. They had always kept peace between the light and dark factions. The people of the village looked at Darian differently as the fight moved on.

 

            Jaejoong was caught off guard by his opponent’s defensive stance, but he figured Darian must have been afraid of him. _So much for that cocky attitude,_ he thought to himself. Now that he was sure of Darian’s incompetence Jaejoong turned aggressive and slashed for his throat, using it as a feint, he then turned it into a thrust for his neck. Darian quickly read the move and stepped to the side of the thrust, ignoring the feint entirely. Then, he swung his sword for Jaejoong’s stomach. Jaejoong blocked the attack and pushed his sword for a lock, trying to knock Darian back, or, with luck, off his feet. Darian avoided the lock by using an old technique. He slid his sword down Jaejoong’s then pushed back just enough, while side stepping, to end up behind him. He then slashed his sword for Jaejoong’s unprotected back. Jaejoong ducked that attack by dropping to a sweep, with his sword, for Darian’s legs. Darian quickly jumped the attack.

 

            As he was about to strike back, Darian heard someone yell, “There’s an army marching on the village!” Darian stopped mid-swing to turn towards the yell. All at once, there was a sword at his throat.

 

            “Next time you make that mistake, I’ll not hesitate to kill you. You surprised me today, I’ll give you that. Fight for your village, we will see each other again.” With that, Jaejoong turned and walked away.

 

            Darian, still a bit shaken, looked around for the young man who had yelled the warning. Darian knew that seven years ago he never would have let anything distract him like that. Upon spotting who he was looking for, Darian asked, “Shaed, where is it?”

 

            Shaed answered quickly, “They’re on the north side of town near the clearing. I’ll go and get some more fighters and meet you there.” Darian nodded and dashed off to the north side of town to get a look at the army as it entered the clearing, and see what was going on.

 

            The approaching army appeared to be several robed individuals. All were wearing red robes, except for one; the tallest was wearing a black robe. Darian could see that they all had curved blades. He couldn’t be sure, but they all looked to be about four feet tall. This would make the one in black about five feet tall.

 

            Once the people who could fight were assembled, the black robed individual walked towards the center of the clearing. Darian assumed this must be their leader, and that he wished to talk. The fighters all looked to Darian to see what he would do. So, he walked towards the center of the clearing to talk with the leader of the army to see what was going on and if he could avoid a battle.

 

            The leader bowed to Darian. He was surprised but bowed back. “I am Rast, leader of my people. We are taking over this town. You may accept it and leave. If you do not, we will take it by force and kill everyone.” The leader had an odd accent to his words.

 

            Darian knew the people would not leave. This was their home, and his. “We will fight. This is our home.”

 

            “I thought as much. Then, I will look for you on the battle field.” With that, Rast turned and walked back to the army. Darian also returned to the villagers.

 

            “What do they want?” Someone asked.

 

            “They want to take over the village and have us leave.” Darian answered. There was an uproar as several people refused to leave. They were as willing as Darian thought they would be to fight for their homes. “I have told them we will fight. This will not be easy; this is not going to be like fighting raiders.” Darian then checked to make sure they were ready. Since they obviously chose him as their leader, he started giving orders to make sure that they understood this was not going to be an easy battle.

 

            Once the attacking army noticed the readiness of their opponents, they advanced. Darian ordered the fighters to advance as well. As they neared each other, skirmishes broke out. None of the attackers would engage Darian though. As he would approach, the attacker would back away and move on. Darian noticed Rast watching him; he was surrounded by his guards. Darian cautiously approached the guards and they moved out of his way. At this point, Darian realized that Rast wished to fight him and had given orders to that point. He decided to be cautious in this fight, more so than against Jaejoong.

 

            Darian stopped a few feet from Rast and held his sword ready, this time in his right hand. Rast pulled his curved blade out and held it ready as well. Darian then noticed that it had a serrated edge. Rast was wearing bandages on his hands and Darian could not see his face or feet under the hooded robe. He also noticed that Rast was only about five feet tall, making him a foot and a half shorter than Darian who stood 6’6”.

 

            Rast attacked quickly, swinging his curved blade for Darian’s chest. Already on guard, he blocked the attack and countered with an upward slash for Rast’s chest. He blocked and pushed the blade aside, reversed his sword, and slashed for Darian’s throat. He stepped back quickly to avoid the attack, then feigned an upward slash for Rast’s chest. As Rast moved to block, Darian thrust his sword for Rast’s stomach. He side stepped and swung the hilt of his sword at Darian’s chest. Darian was almost able to move out of the way but was struck on his left shoulder and pushed off balance. He backed off quickly to regain it.

 

            Rast quickly advanced after him and slashed at his back. Darian turned around just enough to avoid a serious injury, but was still cut along the back of his left shoulder. He slashed his sword diagonally for Rast’s chest. He quickly blocked and thrust through the attack to try and catch Darian off guard.

 

            It almost worked. Darian was barely able to side step the attack, but had to drop his sword. He quickly stepped back and out of range of Rast’s sword. Rast quickly pulled a small dagger from his sleeve and threw it at Darian’s chest. He dodged to the side, but was not quick enough, and the dagger sunk into his left shoulder to the bone. Without thinking about it, Darian pulled the dagger out and threw it back at Rast. He easily caught it and put it back in his sleeve. Then, he kicked Darian’s sword towards him and stood ready.

 

            Darian swayed a bit as he picked up his sword but steadied himself quickly. He couldn’t afford any weakness right now. He made a false charge towards Rast. As Rast sidestepped, Darian swung his sword to the side to catch him off balance. It didn’t work the way Darian hoped it would. Rast, to avoid the attack, bent backwards, but the movement, and sword slash, caused his hood to fall down around his shoulders as he came back up.

 

            Darian stood there, awestruck. Rast had the head structure and fur of a rat but stood on two legs. To take advantage of Darian’s surprise, Rast thrust his sword for Darian’s chest. Just then, another sword came down to knock his sword away from Darian. “Darian, snap out of it!”

 

            Darian shook his head to clear it as he recognized Jarith’s voice. Then, another robed individual attacked Jarith and he moved away. Darian moved into a defensive stance and watched Rast.

 

            Rast rushed forward and slashed for Darian’s legs. Darian quickly backed away, caught a little off guard at Rast’s speed. Darian was not being careful of his surroundings and got his right foot caught in a hole and he fell onto his back, accidently avoiding another attack for his throat.

 

            Rast saw his chance to end the fight and held his sword up to thrust into Darian’s chest. Darian saw the danger and quickly thrust his sword up and into Rast’s chest before he could bring his sword down. But, as Darian’s sword pierced the robe, Rast disappeared. All of a sudden, cheering went up and Darian looked dazedly around. Apparently, the whole army disappeared when Rast did.

 

            Darian slowly sat up and pulled his foot out of the hole he had stepped in. It appeared swollen but Darian didn’t feel any pain at the moment. He didn’t know how badly injured he was and decided to try and stand up. Once he put pressure on his foot, his leg buckled and he sat down hard. He seemed a little dizzy, so he stayed seated until he felt he could see straight. This time he got up slowly. Then, he tried to put a little pressure on his foot and found that he could not do so without intense pain. As he stood there, Jarith came up carrying a good sized branch. “I thought you might need this. I’ll help you over to the field healer.”

 

            “I’m fine. I’ll see my brother when we get back. How is everyone? Did all of the army disappear?” Darian felt a little dizzy again, but was able to steady himself with the branch. He was just beginning to feel the pain of his injuries, but figured if he got his mind off them, he would be okay.

 

            “I know Azul is a druid, but you look really pale. We did lose a few of the fighters, and there are a few who are injured. And yes, they all disappeared.” Jarith tried to get Darian to head towards the healer, but he headed off towards some of the younger fighters.

 

            Darian didn’t get very far before his injuries took their toll. He passed out just as Jarith thought he would. Jarith called some fighters over to help carry Darian back to town. At this point, he didn’t think the field healer could do much. The men helped carry Darian to his brother. Azul’s home was just outside the east side of the village.

 

            Darian woke up in a dream to the sounds of people talking in a strange language outside his door. He slowly got out of bed, trying to remain quiet. His wounds seemed to have healed. He walked to the door and slowly opened it a crack. Nothing could be made out, so he opened the door further.

 

            Once his eyes adjusted to the lighting, Darian saw two swords made exactly alike. He looked at the swords and noticed that they were both silver long swords and seemed to be twins with black hilts and a spot on each hilt to receive a gem. Darian watched as twin faultless diamonds were encrusted into each hilt to further the fact that the swords were twins. Both diamonds were perfect, clear, round, and almost palm-sized.

 

            Then, he watched as the swords were given to a mage. As he wondered who, “Zel Kaven” was whispered in his ear. He watched as Zel cast a spell on the two diamonds. The twin diamonds seemed to call to each other and the two swords became one. Darian looked on as Zel continued to cast the spell and the diamonds turned blood red, the color to signify dark magic

.

 

            Darian could do nothing as he watched Zel wield the sword and kill all those who helped create it. He then saw as Zel went out and gained followers and brought dark magic back into the world. Then, Zel turned the sword on the gods and attacked them, even his own dark goddess. Darian saw the gods gather together to fight Zel. He watched the sword fall to the ground, forgotten in the battle. He also noticed that, all of a sudden, the sword was no longer where it fell. He looked on as the gods destroyed Zel and then began looking for the sword. Unable to find it anywhere nearby, they gave up the search.

 

            As the images slowly came to a stop and faded away, an old man stood in front of Darian. The old man wore bright white robes and sandals. He had long grey hair and a grey beard down to his chest. The odd thing was that his eyes were the same smoky dark green with golden flecks as Darian’s. “You Darian, are my son. I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I don’t have much time to explain. I am the God of Light, Vasilis. I need you to find and hopefully destroy the Zelkaven Sword. As we speak, Jaejoong, son of the Goddess of Darkness, Letalia, is being shown this same dream by her. She intends her son wield the sword. You must get it before he does. If he gets it, there will be none to rival him. Will you accept this quest my son?”

 

            Darian thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase his answer. He knew he really didn’t have much of a choice if he wanted to keep the peace. “Yes, but I need more information. What is the sword capable of? Is it dangerous to handle? And Jaejoong? And what of the attack on the village? What were those rat-like people? I don’t think we killed them. I don’t feel right about that.”

 

            “I understand. But I cannot answer all of those questions and do not have that much time. On your journey, seek out Valretia, she knows more about the sword. On Jaejoong, you have faced him and therefore know more about him than I do. His existence was hidden from me.” Here he paused to gain his thoughts.

 

            “You are right, my son. You did not kill the Rathoul, as they call themselves. Only silver can kill them. But, they shall not attack in that number for a while. The magic that causes them to disappear when pierced by a weapon causes them to return to their home. Not much else is known about them. But, I must go. Just remember, Jaejoong is getting the same information as you are. Goodbye, my son.” Just before he left, he handed Darian a silver necklace with a silver sword pendant on it.

 

            With that, Darian woke up. His wounds were completely healed. But, that had happened before, when he was younger. Now he knew why. He found himself at his own home in bed and wearing the necklace.

 

            Just then, his wife walked in to check on him. She seemed very surprised to see him awake. She was about 5’6” and had short curly brown hair and blue eyes. She was very beautiful and many people adored her. Darian felt very lucky to have been the one she chose to marry. “How are you feeling? Azul will be here soon to change the bandages.”

 

            Darian slowly sat up, testing his now healed muscles. “I’m actually feeling fairly well. And I need to talk to my brother anyways. How’s Shakita?” Darian wanted to get her mind off of his injuries, she seemed really worried about him.

 

            “She’s fine. She’s positive you’d be fine after some sleep.” She smiled at Darian. Even though she was not Shakita’s real mother, she still cared for the girl as if she were.

 

            Darian smiled and laughed softly, “I wonder what gave her that idea.” He remembered when he was younger and had first realized what Shakita was. She had saved his life. Shakita knew he just needed sleep to heal his wounds. “How are you doing, Rhian?”

 

            Rhian smiled wanly, “I’m okay. I was really worried when they brought you in. Even bandaged, you looked awful.”

 

            “I should have listened to Jarith when he said to see the field healer. I might not have looked so bad.” He smiled warmly, to show he felt much better.

 

            “Well, next time, I’ll tell him to hit you if you don’t listen to him. But, we should let Shakita in here, she’ll want to see you.” She laughed a bit to dispel her own fears for her husband.

 

            “True, we should.” He smirked a bit as Rhian opened the door and a young woman of about 20 years old fell into the room. She had been listening intently and had not realized she was leaning on the door. She was about 5’7” with long, black hair and smoky green eyes with golden flecks like Darian’s. She was slim for her age, but had the muscle structure built from traveling for several years with her father. She wore a plain white shirt, brown jeans, and black hiking boots to try and be like her father. She did not like to wear dresses and only tolerated them for special occasions.

 

            “Dad, you’re okay, right?” She smiled as she sat on the bed next to Darian.

 

            “I’m fine, Hun.” He smiled. He didn’t quite know how to let his wife know that his wounds were healed. He didn’t want to scare her and wasn’t sure how she’d take the news about going on a journey either. Especially since he wanted to take Shakita with him.

 

            “That’s good. Mom was really worried about you.” Shakita smiled at her father. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Rhian left the room to answer it, figuring that father and daughter should have some time to talk. She knew that Darian and Shakita had traveled together with Azul for at least two years before settling here. There seemed to be a strain in the relationship between Darian and Azul, so it was more important to keep Darian and Shakita as close as possible in her eyes. She knew that Azul was not really Darian’s brother, Darian had been adopted, but that did not explain the strain.

 

            Darian smiled at Shakita, “So, do you want to go on a quest with me? I was thinking we could go see if Vaylien would come along as well.” He knew Shakita viewed Vaylien as her real mother and would want to see her. They had not seen her in seven years, but she only lived one town away. Yes, it was a week’s travel by horse, but Darian had only kept in touch through letters.

 

            “Really? I’d get to see Mom?” She got really excited. Darian had found Shakita just over nine years ago. He and Vaylien had raised her together. Darian had written to Vaylien about Shakita’s abilities, but wasn’t sure if she understood what he had meant.

 

            “Yes, you’ll get to see her. We just have to convince Rhian. She might not understand.” Darian had never explained about Shakita nor told her everything about Vaylien. He did not want to frighten her.

 

            Just then a man walked into the room. He was about 5’6” and was fairly thin. He had short, sandy blond hair and hazel eyes. He wore the brown robes of a druid and green sandals. “How are you feeling, brother?”

 

            “I’m feeling fine, Azul. How about you?” Darian tried not to show that he felt uneasy around his brother. He did not even understand why he no longer trusted him fully.

 

            Shakita hopped off the bed. “I’m going to go get ready for dinner.” She didn’t feel comfortable around her uncle either. He didn’t quite smell right.

 

            “I’m doing well. You look a lot better than you did yesterday. Let me get a look at the wounds. I want to make sure they’re healing well.” He walked over to the bed as Darian moved so the bandages could be removed easily.

 

            Azul was awestruck as he removed the bandages. He couldn’t help but sound confused as he said, “Your wounds are healed. That is odd.”

 

            Darian smiled. “I know. I had a rather odd dream as well.” Darian did not wish to admit that this had happened before. Azul had not been around when it had occurred. “I’ve been asked to go on a quest by one of the gods.”

 

            “Really? What type of quest?” Azul had heard of the gods asking people to go on quests and it often meant that the quest was dangerous. He figured that the gods had healed his brother. Azul did not realize that there had been any change in his and Darian’s relationship.

 

            “It’s to find an ancient weapon. I was wondering if you would like to join me. I’m going to ask Jarith and Tevick as well. I also want to bring Shakita, and am going to visit Vaylien.” Darian did not want to admit that he was searching for the Zelkaven Sword. At least, not yet.

 

            “I will definitely join you. I don’t know how Rhian is going to take Shakita going though. Have you told her about the girl yet?” Azul believed that there should be no secrets between those who were married, and he knew what Shakita was capable of.

 

            “No, I don’t think she would understand.” Darian believed it would just frighten her. “Besides, Shakita seems about 20 now. I’ve trained her myself. I think she’s ready to start learning more. And, that can only happen with experience.”

 

            Azul left it at that, knowing that one of these days, things might change. Just then, Rhian called from the kitchen, “Dinner is ready. Azul, are you staying?” She liked Azul, he seemed reserved and was easy to talk to.

 

            “I would love to, but I must go and prepare a few things,” was Azul’s answer. “Darian is fine. I’ll let him fill you in on the details. See you later.”

 

            “Bye, and thank you.” With that, Azul left the house and returned to his home to make sure that he had everything he might need. As a druid, he had many herbs and knew the different uses for them.

 

            Darian and Shakita both entered the kitchen. Rhian was surprised, even though Azul had told her he was fine. They all sat down together to eat.

 

            After dinner, Darian decided to talk to Rhian about the quest. Shakita had gone to sleep. Darian figured it was a good time to have a talk with Rhian and let her know why he had to leave soon.

 

            “Rhian, can we talk?” Darian was a little nervous. He was not sure how she would respond.

 

            “Sure. What’s on your mind?” Rhian was curious to see what was going on. One did not heal overnight for no reason. The gods must be involved.

 

            Darian explained his dream, leaving out the part that he was the god’s son, feeling that Rhian deserved to know most of the truth. Once he finished, he said, “I wish to take Shakita with me. She is of age and we will be visiting Vaylien along the way.”

 

            Rhian was stunned by the dream and could only respond, “She is your daughter, so I have no say. But, I am glad you have asked, so, yes. I understand why you wish to take her.”

 

            “Thank you. And, yes, you do have a say. You have helped me raise her these past four years. I would not deny you that.”

 

            “Thank you.” After that, Rhian and Darian went to bed. Darian had a long day ahead of him when he woke up the next day.

 

            Darian woke up early, he ate a light breakfast, and headed into town. The first thing he did was head over to the letter carrier office and write a letter to Vaylien.

 

                        Vaylien,

 

                                    I know I have not written you back lately. Things

                        have been busy and those raiders keep causing trouble,

                        but it is paying off. I’ve been doing well and Shakita misses

                        you.

 

                                    I had a really odd dream and am going on a quest.

                        I’m going to be traveling through your village and thought

                        I’d see if you want to join us. I’ll tell you more about it when

                        I get there. And you will want silver weapons. I’ll explain later.

 

                                                                        Take care,

 

                                                                        Darian

 

            Once Darian finished writing, he handed the letter to the person at the desk and paid for the fastest carrier to deliver it. He then headed over to Jarith’s home. Jarith lived outside of town as he preferred to be closer to nature and was therefore on the outskirts of the forest to the south of town.

 

            Darian knocked on the door and heard, “Be there in a moment,” so he waited.

 

            About five minutes later, the door opened, “Oh, hi, Darian. How are you feeling? I’m surprised you’re even up.”

 

            “I’m doing well. I’ve been asked to go on a quest and was wondering if you would come with me? I’m going to ask Tevick as well, and Azul and Shakita are coming.”

 

            “I would be glad to. I will start preparing. When do we leave?”

 

            “We leave in a week. Oh, I’ve been told we need silver weapons in case we run into those rat-like people, so I’m going to have them made. What do you need?”

 

            “I won’t need anything. I have a family blade that is silver. And I always use silver for my arrow tips. Are you sure you want to take Tevick? He might be more of a hindrance than help.”

 

            “You’ve got a point. I’ll think about it. See you later.”

 

            “Okay.”

 

            Darian left and headed back into town towards Tevick’s house. He did not think that Tevick would be home, but he checked anyways. He was right, so he headed towards the tavern. Tevick loved to drink and harass the barmaids. As Darian entered the tavern, he spotted Tevick right away. He was approximately 5’10” and very muscular. He had short cropped, dirty blond hair and green eyes. He wore a brown shirt, black pants, and black boots. He was already drunk and harassing a new barmaid. Darian was already having second thoughts about inviting him, but Tevick was a decent fighter.

 

            “C’mere sweetie. I want another beer.” The barmaid ignored Tevick and went to another table to take their order.

 

            Darian quickly walked over to his friend. “Hey, how you feeling?” Tevick had some bandages on his head and left hand.

 

            “Good. You? You looked horrible yesterday.” He slurred his words badly.

 

            “I’m good.” At this point, the bartender looked over at Darian and Tevick. Darian motioned for food and water for Tevick and himself. “I’m hungry. You?” He asked Tevick.

 

            “Starving.” Tevick swayed in his seat trying to face the bartender, but Darian stopped him before he fell over.

 

            Just a few minutes later, the bartender walked out of the kitchen with food and both Darian and Tevick ate. After eating, Darian paid the bartender and took Tevick home to help him sober up.

 

            After a few hours of sleep, Tevick woke up sober and Darian asked him to join the quest and found that he used a broadsword. Tevick readily agreed to go with Darian as he would be able to visit other taverns.

 

            After that, Darian headed to the town’s blacksmith. The blacksmith was very happy to make the silver weapons after Darian explained about the Rathoul. Darian paid in advance and headed back home.

 

            One week later, Darian and Shakita met the others just outside of the village. Darian gave Tevick his silver broadsword. He had his sliver long sword at his side and had already given Shakita hers. He had also purchased horses for the others to ride. As everyone else mounted, he gave a whistle and his roan colored warhorse came at a trot. Tevick and Jarith were both very surprised as only those trained to be knights rode warhorses. They were known to be very dangerous horses for those who were untrained or not their rider. Once they got over their surprise, and Darian mounted, they all headed off at a trot.

 


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is Jaejoong's side of the story. His part is every other chapter from now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to introduce Yunho and Changmin in the next chapter. An idea has occurred to me that may change that somewhat and I would like opinions. I am still early enough in the story that this change doesn't change much. The idea is to make Darian into Yunho. I have a different description of Yunho that only changes a little bit in Chapter 1 and it changes relationships a little but as I said, it's early in the story and it'll still be a Yunho/Changmin fic but this change makes it current Yunho/Rhian (OC).
> 
> Let me know what you think. This change may actually work better for me but I want to know what the readers think too.

As Jaejoong left town, he walked to the north of the town to see how the battle went. He watched as the fight started and as the bard approached the leader. The feeling that he knew the bard from somewhere was back. He decided he would meditate on it later. He was disgusted as he watched the army’s leader use trickery. He found it interesting when the leader’s hood fell and revealed he was a rat. When the rats all disappeared, he headed to the forested area to the west to leave.

On the outskirts of the forest, he called his mount and walked in. His mount, a shadow wing, appeared immediately once he was in the darkest area of the forest. The animal had the look of a black wolf, but was six and a half feet tall at the shoulder and had wings. They were used mainly to cross the sea as it was easier, and quicker, than traveling by boat. Its eyes glowed a vibrant green as it watched Jaejoong approach. He allowed it to sniff him before mounting. There was no saddle or harness as Jaejoong refused to use them. He gave the signal and the shadow wing got a running start and leaped into the air in the nearest clearing. Not only was this shadow wing the largest of its kind, it was also the fastest. In one hour, they were landing back at Jaejoong’s home. Just over the sea on a secluded island.

As soon as he landed, one of his priests approached. He showed no fear of the shadow wing and let it sniff him before speaking to Jaejoong, who was dismounting. “Where is Colten? He was to accompany you. Was he too afraid of the shadow wing again?”

“You know Synth terrifies him. But, he did accompany me. And pissed me off. He disobeyed an order. So, I left him. Because of him, I got into a fight with the town’s bard. I’ll send a shadow wing to fetch him soon.”

“That should teach my son some respect. And maybe he will finally learn to understand shadow wings. He is my eldest, but he has been nothing but a disappointment when it comes to shadow wings. That town must miss their bard now.” The priest smiled. Jaejoong was known to be very skilled with a blade as well as magic. 

“If Colten does not control his fear, he will die this time. And, actually, I let the bard live. He was very skilled and there was something familiar about him.” With that, Jaejoong performed the call for a shadow wing that was not Synth, as he no longer had to perform a calling for Synth to answer him. Within seconds, a large, six foot, red appeared. The wolf-like creature approached, eyes yellow, and Jaejoong let it sniff him. Jaejoong had a fondness for shadow wings and had even been known to befriend wild ones. He spoke softly to it, “Go and seek out Colten. He can be found near Saeryc Valley.” The shadow wing took off and Jaejoong turned to the priest, “If he fails, Daelon can take over. I need to meditate. Let none bother me until I am done.”

“As you wish, my lord.” The priest bowed and left. He was interested in finding out more about this bard that Jaejoong had not killed. He went to his son, Daelon, to discuss the bard and what would happen should Colten not return.

One and a half hours later found Colten waiting in the forest outside the village. He knew he had pissed Jaejoong off by disobeying that order, but he did not wish to follow in his father’s footsteps. He was trying to decide what to do next when he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw a red shadow wing. He was amazed at the size and immediately backed off.

Colten was terrified of shadow wings. He had been since he was young and watched his father feed and care for them. They were very aggressive animals and they would sometimes kill, and eat, those who rode, or cared for, them. As he backed away, the red stalked him. He could never overcome his fear, and it had been only because of Jaejoong that Synth had ever allowed him on his back.

Colten turned and ran for his life. He never paid attention to which direction he was heading and just ran deeper into the forest. Within minutes, the red shadow wing was upon him and bit into the back of his neck, killing him instantly. The red slowly devoured his meal happily.

Meanwhile, Jaejoong got to his home and, once inside, sat down in the middle of his room and started his meditation. In his meditation, he saw the same sights Darian had seen. But, at the end, a woman appeared to him. She had long red hair, her eyes were a clear, luminous, warm gold color, like Jaejoong’s, and a flowing red dress. Jaejoong had seen her in many of his meditations, but this was the first time she spoke to him. “Jaejoong, my son, I need you to find that sword. And, yes, I am the Goddess of Darkness, Letalia. And, you are my son.”

“Then I will do as you say. Where shall I start?” Jaejoong was surprised, he wanted to know more but would not question her, especially after finding out that she was his mother.

“My loyal servant, Valretia, will be your first stop. She will be in Yavisyl Town in eight weeks.”

“Then I shall prepare and head out immediately. Perhaps I can get to her before she arrives.”

“No. Wait three days. The bard you fought earlier is Darian, son of the God of Light, Vasilis. He will also be after the sword. I want you to deal with him as well. He must not have the sword. He will destroy it. If you leave too soon, you will constantly be hounded by him.” She handed him a red necklace with a black snake pendant, “Here, use this to call a serpent to create a trap for Darian.”

“I see. Three days it is then. Goodbye, Mother.” Jaejoong ended his meditation and sat a moment to think. The name Darian sounded so familiar. As he thought more about it, memories of his youth, when he trained as a warrior, surfaced. In those memories, he started to remember a young Darian whom he had been good friends with. The last time he had seen Darian then had been the day he met Junsu. The memory reminded him that he hadn’t seen Junsu in years. Maybe Junsu and Yoochun would be willing to join him on this quest. He pushed the memories aside for now and headed to the temple in the center of town. He saw the red shadow wing return without Colten. He was not surprised. As he neared the temple, the doors were opened for him by the guard at the steps.

Jaejoong entered the temple and walked to the priest in the center of the nearly empty main chamber. “I have had a vision. Our Goddess, my mother, wishes me to leave on a quest in three days. I need someone to accompany me. I will also pick up Yoochun and Junsu on my way.”

It was the same priest who he had talked to earlier. “My second son, Daelon, would be honored to accompany you.” He was not happy to hear that the other two would be along, especially the rogue, Junsu, but he knew better than to question Jaejoong’s orders. He motioned for a young man behind him to come forward.

Daelon was approximately 25 years old and about 5’9”. He had long, dark brown hair tied at his neck and his eyes were hazel. He wore a red tunic, black breeches, and red hiking boots. He had a short sword sheathed on his left. He bowed to Jaejoong and spoke with conviction, “I would be most honored if you would allow me to accompany you on your quest.”

Jaejoong was pleased. “Prove yourself and you shall. You must be capable of riding a shadow wing. Synth may no longer tolerate someone else on his back other than me. This last time with Colten was the last straw for him.”

Daelon smiled and stood up. His smile seemed almost cruel. “My brother was a coward. I can ride a shadow wing. If you wish, I shall prove it.”

“Fine. Let us head outside and you shall call one.” Jaejoong, Daelon, and the priest all walked outside to the central clearing. “Now, prove yourself and call a shadow wing, Daelon.”

“Yes, my lord.” Daelon performed the calling. Within seconds, the red that Jaejoong had called earlier, appeared. He landed, sniffed Jaejoong, and then turned to his caller.

At that moment, both Jaejoong and Daelon realized that the red was a wild shadow wing. Daelon immediately took an aggressive step towards the red to show it he was not afraid of the animal. The red’s eyes turned blood red and he growled menacingly at Daelon. He stood his ground and waited for the red to approach him. He had to show that he was unafraid, but would not dominate the animal either. His father had taught him that the wild ones could never truly be tamed but, once befriended, were the most loyal. Synth had originally been a wild shadow wing.

The red approached slowly, still growling low in its throat, and sniffed Daelon. It found no fear in this man, unlike the total fear in his encounter with this man’s brother. Since there was no fear in his scent and no dominance in his stance, the red’s eyes turned green and he let Daelon reach out and scratch behind his ears.

Jaejoong watched and gave no advice. If the young man was to prove himself, he had to do it on his own. Once the red accepted Daelon, he was prepared to allow the young man to accompany him. “You did exceedingly well, Daelon. You may accompany me on the quest.”

Daelon smiled, again it seemed almost cruel, “Thank you, my lord. It will be my pleasure to serve the son of my Goddess. I will not fail you.”

Three days later, they were prepared to leave. They called their shadow wings and were off over the sea. They landed just outside the village of Varisyn, just off the coast.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original introduction to Yunho and Changmin.

A week after they left the village, Darian and his friends rode into the village that Vaylien was living in. Darian looked around to see if he could spot her. When he did not, he told the others to stable and care for the horses and meet him in the town’s tavern when they were ready. Darian dismounted, handed the reins to Shakita, as she knew the warhorse well, and headed to the tavern to ask where he could find Vaylien. Upon entering, she was sitting at the bar having a drink.

Vaylien was approximately 5’5”, the same age as Darian, and fairly muscular. She had black hair down to the middle of her back, pulled back into a ponytail, and blue-green eyes. She wore a cream colored tunic, brown pants, and black boots. Just below the sleeve of the tunic, a blue and black ink tribal tattoo could barely be seen. She wore a silver broadsword sheathed at her left side, warrior style. She also had a bow and quiver, with arrows, strapped to her back. Darian approached her openly, knowing it was dangerous not to, “Hey, how’s it going?”

Vaylien turned around, “As best as can be expected. So, did you bring her?”

Darian, assuming she meant his wife, answered, “No, Rhian does not take well to traveling and I would not want to see her injured in a fight.”

Vaylien rolled her eyes, “No, I meant the wolf.”

At this point, Shakita entered the tavern, saw Vaylien, and ran up to her and gave her a crushing hug. “Oh my god, Mom.”

Vaylien stood there with her arms up, looked at Darian, and asked, “Who is she?”

Darian smiled and answered, “That would be Shakita.”

“Um, okay, if you say so, Darian.” She continued to stand there, positive that this was a trick.

Shakita, realizing that she was acting like a little kid, released Vaylien and stepped back. “Sorry,” Shakita smiled.

Vaylien smirked and nodded her head.

Darian smiled, “I tried to explain it to you, but it’s kind of hard to put it into a letter. This is Shakita. Can we go somewhere we can talk in private?”

“Yeah, I know of a place we can go, just don’t get any ideas.” She left the tavern and started to walk towards the nearby saloon.

“No, no ideas what so ever.” Darian answered, remembering that he is married, as he and Shakita followed her.

When they walked into the saloon, she headed straight to the back where the stairs were almost hidden. Once up the stairs, Vaylien’s room was four rooms down on the right. Shakita followed behind, but stayed out of the room.

Once inside the room, Darian smiled, “Nice place.”

Vaylien smirked, “I told you no ideas, Darian. Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

“Oh, right, forgot for a moment,” Darian teased. “I had a sort of vision or something. Apparently, I am the God of Light, Vasilis’s, son. I’m still not completely sure I understand, but it does explain a few things.” Darian was still fairly confused about his parentage. “He has asked me to find the Zelkaven Sword. I have some ideas on where to start, but I want your opinion.”

“In your vision, did it feel like time stopped around you, or was it more like…a dream?”

“I couldn’t tell the difference. I was unconscious.”

“Then all you can do is trust your instincts.” Vaylien looked at Darian and knew that he wanted to explain the vision, so she gave him her attention with a look that said, out with it already.

Darian explained his vision and about the fight with Jaejoong and the Rathoul. “I’m not sure about this Valretia person, but we should probably check it out. But I also think there should be some clues to the swords whereabouts where it fell. Where would you start?”

She thought about it a moment as she recognized both names. Valretia, she had heard, was a druid. And Jaejoong had been an old friend from their shared past. “Darian, didn’t we have a friend named Jaejoong while in training? And go to your brother and ask him about this other name.”

Hearing Vaylien mention Jaejoong brought back some memories. “I wonder if that was him then. He seemed different. We’ll see I guess. And, there has been something off about Azul lately. I’m not quite sure I trust him anymore.” +++

Vaylien got angry with him, “Related or not, he is still your brother! Ask.”

“Alright, I will ask. But first,” here, Darian called Shakita in. He looked at her and said, “It is safe in here.” Shakita, trusting Darian entirely, shifted into a large black wolf.

Once Vaylien saw her shift, “You couldn’t explain this to me in your letters? Knowing what I am? This is what you had trouble with? You could have just said that she is just like me. I would have understood that, Darian. No, you had to say, she’s changed. How was I supposed to get that?”

“I wasn’t thinking straight that day.”

Vaylien walked to the door and said, “I need a drink. Are you two coming or not?”

Shakita shifted back and hopped up, “I’m definitely coming.”

Darian just shook his head and followed.

“So, you let her drink, and she hops into random people’s arms…good one.”

“No, she does not get alcohol…and she did know you.”

“Still random, I did not know…well, okay, recognize her.”

“I’m not going to argue the point.” Darian was almost surprised at how easily things seemed like the two of them had never left each other.

Once they got to the tavern, Darian looked around and saw Azul and Tevick already there, but he did not see Jarith anywhere. He immediately noticed that Tevick was already drunk. He muttered to himself, “Just great, not a few minutes into town and he’s already smashed,” and shook his head.

Vaylien easily heard him, “And these are the type of people you travel with, Darian? How safe I’m going to feel if I need somebody to watch my back,” Vaylien said in a mellow sarcastic tone.

Darian just shook his head, thinking, Could this get any worse?

At that point, Tevick turned around and saw Darian, “C’mere, buddy. Wanna drink? And who’s the lady friend?”

“You call me a lady friend as if I’m a whore! You think Darian could be that lucky? Or even you?” Vaylien was angry.

“Maybe I could, how would you know if you never tried with a real man?” Tevick was very drunk and oblivious.

Darian stepped in here, “Tevick, shut up! The last thing you want to do it make her angrier than she already is.”

“She’s only a woman. What harm can she do?” Tevick was completely unconvinced.

Vaylien walked up to the bar, asked for two drinks, and, while Tevick was not paying attention, kicked his barstool out from under him. “See, you really should pay attention.”

Darian quickly grabbed Tevick and dragged him outside. He was surprised at Vaylien’s control. “You are lucky she didn’t kill you. Go get the horses ready. We’re leaving soon.” Darian returned to the bar and Vaylien. “I never should have brought him. He’s more trouble than he’s worth. I’m going to go talk to my brother.”

Darian headed to the booth Azul was sitting at, “Where’s Jarith?” He hadn’t seen Jarith since he first entered the tavern.

“He said something about meditating in the woods and he’d be back soon,” was Azul’s reply.

“Okay. I wanted to ask you something anyway. Do you know a woman named Valretia?”

“Yes, she’s a druid. She travels a lot though. Last I heard, she should be heading towards Yavisyl Town. If we leave today or tomorrow, we could meet her when she gets there in about six weeks or so.”

“Thank you.” Darian headed back over to Vaylien, “Azul says Valretia should be in Yavisyl Town in about six weeks. Seems to be about a six week ride from here as well.”

“And we’re waiting for what?”

“Tevick to get the…um…I’m going to go see about the horses.” As he exited the tavern, Darian saw two men enter the town. Darian was surprised when he recognized one of the men. He waved at him and tried to get his attention, “Hey, Changmin, what brings you here?”

Changmin smiled and waved back when he saw Darian and walked toward him pulling his companion along behind. Changmin appeared to be about 27 years old. He was approximately 6’1” and thin but muscular. He had straight, long, violet black hair with a streak of silver running down the left side down to the middle of his back. His eyes were a bright, shining silver that held and reflected the light. Changmin was wearing a silver long sleeved shirt with amethyst buttons down the center and the sleeves pushed up to his elbows with an open, dark grey, almost black, leather vest over it. He had black leather pants, silver hiking boots, worn from travel, and a large leather sack with a shoulder strap over his left shoulder and the bag hanging on his right hip. He also had an oak long bow and a quiver of arrows slung across his back. As he approached Darian, he noticed that Changmin was holding his companion’s hand tightly as he pulled him along. “Hey, Darian, I haven’t seen you in years. This is my friend, Yunho. We’ve been traveling together for about four years now.” He turned to Yunho, “I’ve told you about Darian, he and I met two and a half years before I met you.” Changmin looked very fond of Yunho but Darian did not comment on it.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Darian.” Yunho seemed to be about 29 years old and very friendly. He was about 6’ and thin with a more athletic build. He had wavy, shoulder length, auburn hair. His eyes were a pale, clear, shining gold color that reflected light and appeared luminous. He wore a green, short sleeved shirt with some tears in it, an open black leather vest, black jeans, and green hiking boots, also worn from travel. He appeared to have no weapons on him. Yunho also left his hand in Changmin’s a bit longer than necessary before he let go to shake Darian’s hand. Darian shook his hand and smiled. He said nothing of what he noticed because he knew Changmin’s preferences and did not wish to bring attention to it. It was not unheard of, or even forbidden, but two men in a relationship together was still frowned upon.

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Yunho.” Darian looked at Changmin and asked, “Where are you two heading? Any luck with that rogue?” Darian knew quite a bit about Changmin and thought that he would be helpful on his quest but, he knew next to nothing about Yunho and Changmin had been searing for a rogue when Darian first met him.

“Not really. There was news that a man named Junsu was here not too long ago, but, I doubt that, if it was him, he would have stayed for very long. He must know he’s being hunted. But, it’s worth a look around. If it was him, maybe I could finally get a good description of him. He could be anywhere though. We also ran into some weird rat-like people that were not friendly, but not much else. How about you? You look like you’re going on a journey.” Changmin knew Darian fairly well, had been the one to suggest he start passing himself off as a bard in order to hide his true past, and thought that it looked as if Darian might want him along. He knew Yunho could help out as well but figured he may have to convince Darian. Plus, going on a journey could aid him in finding the rogue he was looking for.

Darian smiled, he knew Changmin was pretty observant and might have figured out what he wanted to ask already, plus, he thought Vaylien might be able to tell Changmin if the rogue really had come here. “I am heading on a journey, or rather, a quest. But, I’d rather not discuss it here. If you are interested, I know someone here, I’ve told you a bit about Vaylien, she might let us talk at her place. Plus, she might have heard of the rogue if he did pass through.” At least, Darian hoped Vaylien wouldn’t mind.

“I don’t see why not. You go talk to her and we’ll wait here.”

Darian headed back into the tavern and walked over to Vaylien while Changmin and Yunho waited outside. “Vaylien, there are a couple of friends outside whom I think might be more helpful than Tevick. I need to talk to them more about it and one of them may need your help finding someone. Can we talk at your place?”

“I hope this friend isn’t like Tevick. But, I don’t see why not.”

“Thank you. And I think you’ll like Changmin.” Darian and Vaylien walked outside and over to where Changmin and Yunho were waiting. “Changmin, Yunho, this is Vaylien. She and I have known each other for a very long time.” He looked over at Changmin, “We got the same schooling when we were younger.” Changmin nodded his head. “Vaylien, this is Changmin and Yunho. I met Changmin about six months after you and I split up. He knows about Shakita.”

“Nice to meet you both.” Vaylien noticed that Darian did not say Changmin knew about her. She was glad he had not said anything. She also noticed that there was something odd about Changmin. She couldn’t quite place it. It wasn’t a bad odd, just different.

Shakita then came out of the tavern and saw Changmin. She walked over to him and said, “Hi, Changmin.” He smiled and nodded to her. She did not hug him like she had hugged Vaylien. She knew that he did not like physical contact much. She was very surprised when she noticed Yunho was loosely holding his hand. “Who’s your friend?”

Changmin smiled fondly as he looked over at Yunho, “This is Yunho. Yunho, this is Darian’s daughter, Shakita.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Changmin had told Yunho quite a bit about Darian and Shakita.

“Vaylien is going to let us talk at her place. Follow her, she can be trusted. Shakita, can you find Jarith and meet us back at the tavern in about an hour?”

Shakita nodded and headed off. She had an idea of what Jarith was doing and so headed to the forest. Once safely inside, she shifted, picked up Jarith’s scent and headed off at an easy lope.

Vaylien led Darian, Changmin, and Yunho back to her room at the saloon. Once inside, Changmin got a better look at Vaylien and realized exactly what she was. His senses were very keen when it came to those who were not fully human. He chose to say nothing just yet. He was not sure how she would take his knowledge. So, he turned to Darian. “What sort of quest are you on? Oh, and you can trust Yunho, he knows what I am. I trust him with my life.”

Upon hearing this, Vaylien looked at Changmin, “And what are you, to be making such a bold statement? You have heard nothing of what Darian has to say yet.”

Changmin was not surprised by Vaylien’s questions. He knew her kind were usually very suspicious of others, and rightly so. “I understand your suspicion. You have every right to not trust myself or Yunho. And were it not for Darian, I would not tell you what I am. Darian has told me much of you but I can tell he never told me all. But, he probably felt that was for the best. I have very keen senses, so I know what you are, shifter. I am dragonkin. To prove that I can be trusted and am a true friend, my full name is Changmin ‘Max’ Silver-Tail, and I am a silver dragon. Only Darian, Yunho, Shakita, and now you know the full truth. I would not give it to you if Darian did not trust you.”

Darian was not surprised that Changmin trusted Yunho, not with the looks that passed between them from time to time. He was very surprised though, when Changmin told Vaylien exactly what he was. Dragonkin did not trust just anyone with that information. For Changmin to do that, it meant a lot. Even Vaylien was taken aback. Darian decided that now was a good time to explain his dream. He also explained what he knew about the Rathoul. “We were just getting ready to leave for Yavisyl Town to talk to a druid who is heading there when you two showed up.”

Changmin and Yunho looked at each other and both nodded. “It sounds like it could be dangerous. If you would like us to join you, we would gladly do so. Although, I do not usually use weapons. I may have to change that.” Yunho was a hand-to-hand fighter, but he did know how to use knives. He did not like to use weapons though. But, with the Rathoul out there, he would have to change his point of view on them for now.

Darian thought a moment. “We will have to see what we can find for you, Yunho.”

Vaylien spoke up then, “The smith in town may have something of use. When I had him make my sword, there was some silver left over. The smith had thought to make something of a clawed fist weapon with it. It was a new idea of his. That may work for our purposes. But, I am curious, Darian mentioned you were looking for someone? Who?”

Changmin smiled, trust Darian not to leave anything out. “I am looking for a rogue dragon. A blue to be exact. He’s been rogue for about seven years and I have been tasked with finding and capturing him. The problem is that no one knows what his human form looks like. So, he has been able to hide easily from me by taking human form. But, I do know his full name is Xia Junsu. I have heard that someone named Junsu may have recently passed through here. Would you happen to know if this rumor is true?”

“I have not seen anyone, or heard of anyone, with this name here. And I would have. What did he do to become a rogue?” Vaylien was curious.

“I do not know everything because I was not there. But, it is said that he refused the Dragon Council’s orders and killed another dragon in the process. I was a close friend of his. That is why I asked to go after him. I wish to know why he did it. I want his side of the story and this is the only way I will get it.”

“I see. That makes sense. And now that they are joining us, I think we should stay the night here. They both look like they could use the rest, we need to get them some horses, and it’ll give us time to get some supplies.

“That is a good idea. I’ll get us rooms at the tavern,” Darian looked at Changmin and Yunho, “I suppose you two wouldn’t mind sharing a room.” He smiled to let them know that it didn’t bother him. They both smiled and looked away. “Okay. Let’s head over to the tavern and get something to eat. I’m going to stop at the stables real quick and check on Tevick, he was coming with us, but I think he’s more of a liability. I’ll purchase the horses we need and meet you guys at the tavern in a few.”

They all left the saloon. Vaylien, Changmin, and Yunho headed to the tavern while Darian headed to the stables. He found Tevick passed out in the hay. Darian shook him awake. “Tevick, let’s go get something to eat.” Tevick woke up slowly and got up. “Meet me at the tavern. I’m going to talk to the stable master about staying the night and get us all rooms at the tavern for the night.” Tevick nodded and headed off, he wasn’t totally awake or sober just yet. Darian easily paid for the night’s stay and bought two more horses. He would let Tevick keep the horse he had gotten him and he knew that Vaylien had her own warhorse. Darian then returned to the tavern.

At the tavern, Darian paid for five rooms for the night, Vaylien had her own, and bought food for them all for lunch as it was noon already. Changmin, Yunho, and Vaylien were introduced to everyone and then they all started eating. Jarith had returned to the tavern with Shakita just before Darian walked in.

After they ate, Darian handed everyone their room keys and was not surprised when Tevick headed straight up stairs to his room. Jarith decided to tag along as they went to the smith’s to see about a weapon for Yunho. Jarith suspected that Changmin might be a rogue dragonkin since most dragonkin hated humans. He was not human himself so he was able to recognize that Changmin was dragonkin easily, especially as he had lived with dragonkin for many years of his life. He was also easily able to tell what Vaylien was, and had known for quite a while what Shakita was, although Darian did not know that, as his kind used to be the protectors of the shifters before his kind were forced into hiding and the shifters were nearly all destroyed. He decided he would watch until later at night when he could talk to Changmin privately. He hoped he was wrong about the dragonkin.

Vaylien led Darian, Changmin, Yunho, and Jarith to the blacksmith. Shakita decided to stay behind and go to the general store to get more supplies. Azul went off to look for herbs he couldn’t get earlier. The smith was very happy to show Yunho what he had made. He had been able to make two clawed fist weapons with the left over silver and some leather straps. The smith had Yunho try them on to see how they would fit on him. Yunho was impressed and liked them very much. Although Darian offered, Changmin purchased the weapons for Yunho. Changmin then took Yunho off to the woods so he could test his new weapons and learn the weight and feel of them as he fought. Jarith decided to discreetly follow behind. 

Later, they all met back at the tavern and had their evening meal together. Afterwards, they all headed to their rooms to get some sleep. Just before Changmin headed into his room with Yunho, Jarith approached him, “Changmin, can I speak with you alone please?”

Changmin was surprised, but then again, he had not really paid much attention to Jarith. Jarith had pretty much seemed to stay to himself and just observe. So, Changmin had not thought much about him. “Sure, is something wrong?” He had not realized who Jarith was yet, and therefore did not think that Jarith knew anything about him.

Jarith led Changmin to his room. Once they were inside, and the door was shut, he took a good look at Changmin. He realized that Changmin was a silver dragonkin at this point. “I want to know what your intentions are, dragon! Your kind do not associate with humans. Darian is a good friend of mine and I will not see you harm him or his daughter.”

Changmin took a good look at Jarith at this point. That’s when he realized that he was facing an elf. Their race and the dragonkin were friends. It was as rare to see an elf amongst humans as it was to see dragonkin. So, Changmin was not offended by the question. “I have no intention of harming anyone. I am not what you think. I have not gone rogue. I know it is very unusual, especially for my kind, but I get along well with humans. And, I like Yunho. So, I feel I should ask the same of you, elf. Why are you here?”

Jarith knew that Changmin was telling the truth, dragonkin and elves could never lie to one another. It was a part of their symbiotic natures. “I was outcast from my people for speaking out. I was against something they chose to do and they cast me out because of it. I am sorry I was suspicious of you, but I have seen many rogue dragonkin in my time.”

“I understand. I would have done the same in your shoes. I will see you in the morning. Goodnight.” With that, Changmin bowed and left Jarith’s room and returned to Yunho in their room to get some sleep.

Early the next morning, Darian woke everyone but Tevick up. He left a small pouch of coins tied to Tevick’s door with a note saying that Tevick should head back to Saeryc Valley. They all met downstairs and ate before heading out to ready the horses. As Darian and the others saddled and got their horses ready, Vaylien called her pale white warhorse to her. They all mounted their horses and headed out of town at a trot.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introduction of Junsu and Yoochun.

As soon as they landed, Jaejoong and Daelon dismounted and told the shadow wings to return home as they would not be needed anymore. Jaejoong then turned to Daelon, “I’m going to the tavern to see if my friends are there. They both live in this town. Go to the stables and tell the stable master that I am here, he knows my horse and will get him ready. Have him give you a horse as well. Junsu and Yoochun should also have horses. Have the stable master prepare them as well. We have traveled together before. I will pay for whatever horse you choose, so choose well.”

Daelon headed towards the stables to search for the stable master. Once he found the man, he explained Jaejoong’s needs. He nodded and gestured for Daelon to follow him. He showed Daelon the available horses for him to choose from. Once Daelon made his choice, he showed him a place he could watch as he prepared the horses. Daelon was very surprised when a large, black warhorse was led in. The stable master was very careful tending to the warhorse as the animal could be dangerous if he was not. Daelon watched the horses as he waited for Jaejoong to return.

As Jaejoong entered the tavern, he looked for his friends. He found Junsu fairly quickly. Junsu was 5’10” and thin with an athletic build and appeared 29 years old. He had clear, piercing blue-green eyes and medium length, layered black hair with bright blue highlights, in the right light his hair would appear entirely blue. He wore a red silk, long sleeve shirt, a red wolf fur vest with metal studs on the leather collar, black leather pants, and black hiking boots. Jaejoong walked towards him, “Hey, Junsu, where’s Yoochun?”

Junsu jumped up hearing Jaejoong’s voice. He smiled brightly, “Jaejoong, I haven’t seen you in years. Yoochun just got back from hunting a little bit ago. But, he should be here soon. What brings you out here?”

“I’ll tell you when he gets here and we’re somewhere less crowded. What I have to tell you guys doesn’t need to be heard by other ears. Afterwards, I can introduce you to the young man who is accompanying me on this journey. But, he doesn’t know all of the specifics, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Jaejoong may have spent the last several years living on the secluded island, but that did not mean that he trusted the people as much as they thought he did. “Oh, and please don’t scare him off the first day, like you did Colten, Junsu.”

Junsu laughed. “Now why would I do that? I’m not that scary, am I?” Junsu tried to pretend to be hurt, but couldn’t pull it off while laughing. “Come on, where’s the fun in that? You know I wouldn’t hurt him….much.”

“I know. But, please, just leave him alone for now. We can tell him about you if you want, but don’t show him. I know he doesn’t fear shadow wings, but I don’t know how he’d feel about you.” Jaejoong knew that most humans feared dragons, and rightly so. And, Junsu was a rogue dragon, but there were extenuating circumstances. Junsu would not truly harm a human unless he had to, but humans didn’t know that.

“Oh, alright. I guess I’ll be nice, for now.” Junsu pouted just a bit before cheering up real quick as he saw Yoochun enter the tavern. He shouted over the crowd, “Yoochun, guess who’s here.” He waved so that Yoochun would see where they were. Yoochun was 5’11” with a medium build and was 29 years old. His eyes were a very pale, golden color with a warm, subtle orange tinge and he had short, choppy ebony black hair. He wore a red short sleeve shirt, a black leather jacket, black jeans, and red hiking boots.

Yoochun walked over and gave Junsu a hug as he looked over to Jaejoong. “It’s been a long time. How have you been?” They had not seen Jaejoong in almost four years now.

Jaejoong smiled, “Yes it has. I’ve been doing well. I have something I want to talk to you two about. Can we get out of here and head somewhere more private?”

Yoochun nodded, “We can head over to our place. Junsu and I have been living together for two years now. We should be able to talk privately there.” The three of them headed out of the tavern and through the town.

“You two finally got together, huh? I was wondering when that would happen. You guys were dancing around it the whole time we were traveling together.” As they finally neared the outskirts of town, there was a nice house sitting on the edge of the forest. This is where they were headed.

Junsu laughed, “I told you he’d figure it out.” He looked over at Jaejoong, “Yeah, well, you sort of helped in that….What were your last words to us before you left?...Something about stop behaving like children and admit you two have feelings for each other already. We took your advice. But, it still took us two years to move in together.” He opened the door and they all walked into the house. It was moderately furnished and well kept.

Yoochun smiled, “I know, but I had to try.” He looked over to Jaejoong, “We should be able to talk here. No one really bothers us out here. So, what’s going on? Do you need help with anything?”

Jaejoong laughed for a bit, Trust Yoochun to get right to the point, he thought. “I guess you could say that. I’ve been given a task by the Goddess of Darkness, Letalia. And, apparently, I am her son. The task is to find the Zelkaven Sword. I am to meet Valretia in Yavisyl Town in about six weeks’ time to get information about the sword. I was hoping the two of you would come with me. I have one of the people from the secluded island I’ve been staying on with me but I don’t really trust those people. He does not know what I am searching for, nor does he know that I don’t trust him. I’d like to keep it that way.”

Junsu was very surprised. “I’ve heard of that sword! It’s supposed to be very powerful. I can understand why you might not want this guy to know about it. I think it would be fun to travel together again. And this time we’d actually have a purpose.” He turned to Yoochun, “What do you think?”

Yoochun thought for a moment, “I think it would be a good idea. I miss all the fun we used to get into traveling together. Sure, why not. Now, do we tell him about you, Junsu, or leave him in the dark for now?”

“I really want to tell him. Although I really want to scare him as well, but I’ve promised Jaejoong I wouldn’t do that. But I think he should know. Telling him might either keep him in line or show his true motives. Although, I’d rather he not know that I’m a rogue. I don’t know who the Council sent after me, but I’d rather not risk him knowing that and finding a way to turn me in. I can only imagine that whoever was sent after me was told to kill me instead of bring me in. They really don’t want me to tell my side of the story. Plus, I can only imagine what they said actually happened that day.”

Jaejoong nodded, “I am fine with telling him that you are a dragon. But, you are right. I think that he doesn’t need to know much more than that. I wish we knew who they sent after you so we could just get rid of them. Or find a way to make them stop looking for you. But, traveling may be the best thing for you now. You’ve stayed in one place for a while now. Even though whoever it is does not know what you look like in human form, they do know your name. That may eventually lead them here. And, I think it best that you not be here when they show up.”

“You are probably right. I had not even thought about how long I’ve been here. It’s a good thing you’re going on this quest then.” Junsu smiled. “So, do we need to prepare anything?”

“You guys will want to make sure you have your weapons readied. But, other than that, I’ve got supplies. And, before I came to find you, I had the other young man tell the stable master to prepare our horses for us.”

Yoochun laughed at that. “I bet you’ve got the guy scared a bit already then. He’s probably never seen a warhorse before. And you didn’t want Junsu to scare him.” Yoochun knew the warhorse well enough, now, not to be afraid anymore, but the animal was a fierce fighter and most people feared that horse.

“If he’s not afraid of a shadow wing, I doubt he’d be afraid of a warhorse. Although, the warhorse could be worse than a shadow wing. But, that’s beside the point. If you two are ready, we should get going. It is a long ride to Yavisyl Town.”

Yoochun grabbed his yew short bow and quiver of arrows. Then, he walked over to the bedroom and came back out with a wrapped package. He smiled at Junsu and beckoned him to the dining table as he laid the package down. “I had these made special since our two year living together anniversary was coming up.” Junsu pulled something from a hiding place and joined them at the table.

Junsu placed two short swords on the table. Then, as Yoochun checked out the short swords, Junsu opened the package. “Wow, these are nice. Thank you.” In the package was a set of silver throwing knives. As Yoochun pulled one of the short swords from its sheath, Junsu said, “I had those made for us both for our anniversary as well. They are both identical. Looks like we both had the same idea too. The swords are silver, just like these knives.” 

Yoochun was surprised. Silver was not always easy to come by for projects like these. He had had to work hard to get enough silver just for the throwing knives. But, Junsu was a dragon, so he figured that he might have better luck finding silver. “They are awesome. Thank you.” Both of them strapped the swords on their waists. Junsu then started placing the knives. He put some in his sleeves, his boots, and behind his back under his shirt. There were twenty knives in all. “I think we’re ready now.” Yoochun was getting anxious to be leaving now. He had not realized that they were risking Junsu getting caught by staying in one place for so long.

Jaejoong nodded. “Okay, Let’s get to the stables and you can introduce yourselves to Daelon. Then, we can get going.” They headed out of the house and back through town. Once they got to the stables, all four horses were saddled and ready. Daelon spent the time talking to the stable master about the care for the horses as he waited for Jaejoong and his friends. Jaejoong got a good look at the horse Daelon picked. “Daelon, I’m impressed, you have a good eye for horses.” The horse was a little green, but was well built and would take the travel easily. Jaejoong gestured for Yoochun and Junsu to come forward, “Pleas, introduce yourselves.”

Yoochun stepped forward first, “I am Yoochun.”

It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Daelon.” Daelon bowed.

“Nice to meet you as well.” Yoochun shook Daelon’s hand and then walked over to his horse.

Next, Jaejoong gestured Junsu to come forward. He looked at Junsu meaningfully so Junsu knew not to scare him.

Daelon bowed again, “It is a pleasure.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Junsu. I am dragonkin. But, do not worry, I will not harm you.” Junsu smiled. Although he really wanted to scare Daelon, he didn’t want Jaejoong angry with him. He could tell that Daelon was Colten’s brother.

Daelon smiled, he had been told by his father about the rogue dragon. But, he did his best not to show that he already knew about Junsu. “It is an honor to be traveling with you.”

Junsu was instantly suspicious of Daelon. He was known for his extremely keen senses. And, although Daelon tried to hide it, Junsu could sense that Daelon had already known about him. He decided to keep an eye on the young man. There was something Junsu did not like about him but couldn’t quite identify it. The young man seemed sincere in his words, but at the same time, was not sincere at all.

Junsu walked over to his horse with a smile, pretending to be pleased with Daelon. He looked over at Jaejoong and made a slight shake of his head to indicate that he did not like, or trust, Daelon. Jaejoong nodded, and walked to his warhorse. “Let us be on our way then.” He made sure that Daelon would be within his sight the whole ride. If Junsu did not like him, then he was hiding something and Jaejoong intended to keep an eye on him. With Junsu’s judgement, Jaejoong felt that his reasons for not trusting Daelon in the first place were now justified. They all mounted their horses and headed out of town at a trot.

Along the way, they hunted for their food and slept wherever they happened to stop for the night, mostly in clearings. For the first three weeks, travel was mostly uneventful. They would switch off which two did the hunting. Daelon was never left alone but he didn’t seem to think that that was unusual. He had never traveled with Jaejoong before, so it didn’t seem odd to him at all.

After three weeks of travel, the four of them were riding along an unused road when several robed individuals stood in their way. Jaejoong immediately remembered the battle that had happened in the village where he fought Darian. He pulled his horse forward a bit. “What is going on? Why are you stopping us?”

The robed individuals stood their ground while one stepped forward and spoke, “We are stopping you because we feel like it. That, and if you wish to pass us, then you must pay us four gold coins for each of you.”

Jaejoong laughed. “Now, why would we pay you? Especially that much. I have no intention of paying to use this road. Now, you can either move out of the way, or you shall have a problem on your hands.” 

“I see. Well then, let us see what type of problem you are then. We do not intend to let you pass without first paying us. If you will not pay, then we will just have to take the money from you. And maybe take your horses while we’re at it.” There were eight robed individuals standing in the path.

Jaejoong dismounted and signaled the others to do the same. He turned to them, “Prepare yourselves, these are likely not human. I have seen individuals like these once before. They were a rat-like people. They practice trickery. So, be on your guard as you fight them.”

The others dismounted and nodded at Jaejoong. Junsu had sensed that the individuals had been lying about their intentions but he could not sense what their real intentions were. He also noticed that Daelon did not seem surprised by the information and seemed to shift back a bit even as he drew his weapon. Junsu worried that Daelon was up to something. But, he could not worry too much about that now as the robed individuals advanced towards them. The four of them separated to give each other room to fight. Jaejoong stayed a bit forward of the others and mostly to the center of the road. Yoochun moved a few feet off to the left side of the road and stayed back a few feet away from Jaejoong’s position. Junsu took the right side of the road even further back from Yoochun’s position but still forward of the horses. And last, Daelon took up a position near the center rear but still more to the right side. He didn’t want to seem like he was too near Junsu, but at the same time, he wanted to be out of Junsu’s sight as the fight moved on.

Once the others were ready, Jaejoong watched the attackers carefully as they approached. They seemed to split up into groups of two, intending to double team him and his friends. He smiled, they would have a harder time at it than they thought. Just then, two of the attackers fell with throwing knives stuck in their chests, their hoods fell down and it was shown that they were indeed the rat-like people. They were not the only ones that could use trickery. Junsu never missed with a throwing knife. What surprised Jaejoong though, was that the now dead attackers did not disappear like at the battle he had witnessed before. That made Jaejoong wonder what the difference was this time. He knew that Junsu had just gotten the silver throwing knives, but could it really be that simple? He hoped so, but his sword was not silver nor were Yoochun’s arrows or Daelon’s sword.

The rat-like people were startled when the two fell. No one was supposed to know their secret. Only the Gods themselves knew of their weaknesses. They immediately got serious. Two of them approached Yoochun cautiously and engaged him. Two more approached Jaejoong. And, the last two split up, one attacking Junsu, and the other going after Daelon.

The two attacking Yoochun split up a little to approach him from different angles. Yoochun nocked an arrow and fired at the farthest one of them. Of course, he hit his target easily. But, this one only disappeared. The other attacker visibly relaxed when his companion simply disappeared. That meant that this human had no idea of how to kill him. But, that was short lived when Yoochun drew his short sword. The attacker could easily see that the blade was silver. He quickly moved into a defensive stance with his curved blade at the ready.

The two that approached Jaejoong did not split up. One took a defensive stance while the other pulled a dagger from his sleeve and quickly threw it at Jaejoong. Jaejoong had seen this before and anticipated it. So, he easily caught the blade within magic, flipped it around, cast a flame upon its blade, and flung it back at the rat-like person in front. The one who had taken a defensive stance was unprepared for the blade to be coming at him and was caught easily. But, again, he simply disappeared.

The two that headed towards Junsu and Daelon appeared to split up at first but joined back together and approached Junsu only. This surprised Junsu, he expected one to attack him and the other to attack Daelon. But, they both came at him. He drew his sword this time, figuring that they would expect it if he used his throwing knives again. They, again, looked surprised when they saw that his blade was silver. But, they still approached him none-the-less, although more cautiously. He had stopped paying attention to Daelon in order to focus solely on this fight since he was facing two of them. He figured that, as much as he didn’t trust him, Daelon would still move to defend Jaejoong or simply stay by the horses. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Junsu was caught off guard, as he moved forward to attack, when Daelon came up behind him and put a knife to his throat. “Actually, Junsu, too bad you didn’t see this coming. My father knows what you are, rogue. And he told me that the Council would pay very well if you were handed to them, dead or alive, preferably dead. So, while the others face the other Rathoul, these two and I will take you off and decide how to hand you over to the Council.”

Junsu was surprised. But, he figured Daelon and his father must not have known enough about him or Daelon would not have come so close to him with only an iron weapon. He grabbed Daelon’s knife hand and used magic combined with his ice breath to turn the blade at his neck into ice and shatter it. “Nice try. But, you’ve got to try harder if you want to catch me. Nice to know that these rat-like creatures have a name though. I’ve never heard of the Rathoul before. But, that’s okay. I should be able to deal with them easily enough.” He then flipped Daelon over his shoulder and tossed him at the two Rathoul facing him.

Yoochun easily took care of the attacker that he was dealing with, actually killing it with his silver blade this time. He quickly looked around to assess the situation and saw Junsu flip Daelon and throw him at the other two attackers. He also saw Jaejoong had taken care of his two attackers, but they had both disappeared. So, he headed over to Junsu to see if he needed any help. Jaejoong was not far behind him.

Daelon and the two Rathoul realized that their trap had failed and fled into the forest. Yoochun wanted to chase them down but Junsu grabbed his arm before he could. “That’s not a good idea. They could easily evade us in there. And, they were working for the Council. Plus, they could go for reinforcements and then we would be in trouble. Let’s just keep going. Oh, Daelon called them Rathoul, so at lease we have a name for their race now.” Junsu didn’t want to stick around and find out if they had reinforcements or not. He wanted to get as far away from them as possible. The threat of being taken to the Council leaving him a bit shaken. He had not thought that humans would be contracted by the Council to go after him. And he had never heard of the Rathoul before so he didn’t know when the Council would have ever used them.

Yoochun looked over at Junsu and realized that he was a bit shaken by the incident. The only thing that frightened Junsu was the Council. At that point, Yoochun decided that he didn’t need to go off after them. If they had been trying to turn Junsu into the Council, then it was best that they leave quickly. “Okay. Let’s go ahead and continue on. Is it me, or did they seem to disappear if they were hit by anything but the silver weapons?”

Jaejoong had noticed this too. “Yes, it does seem that way. We will have to get a new sword for me and some new arrows for you, Yoochun. We will see what we can find once we reach our destination. I’m glad I never told Daelon where we were heading or what we were on this quest for. Had he been smart, he would have waited to make his move when he had that information. Let’s get going then.” Junsu walked over to the two rathoul he had killed with his throwing knives, retrieved them, and put them away. Then, they all walked back to the horses and mounted. Yoochun took the reins of the extra horse now that Daelon was no longer with them. Jaejoong and Yoochun made sure that Junsu rode in between them this time. Junsu was not surprised at all, they were always very protective of him, even though he was a dragon.

Just off to the side of the road, hidden amongst the brush and trees, Daelon waited until they were out of sight before coming out of hiding with the two Rathoul. He was not pleased. “When did they get silver weapons? Jaejoong never talked about you guys. He honestly seemed not to know about the Rathoul. This was a disaster.”

One of the Rathoul stepped forward, “They seemed genuinely surprised. Maybe it was an accident that they had the silver weapons. You couldn’t have known. As you yourself told us in the letter, you knew very little about the dragonkin. You did not know what weapons he used, what breath weapon he has, or even what color dragon he is. We now know most of these things. He uses a short sword and throwing knives and his breath weapon seems to be ice. There is a strong possibility that he is a blue dragon. We will study and be ready next time. He will not get away from us again.”

Daelon knew that the rathoul made sense, but that wasn’t the only problem. “Yes, we know this stuff now. But, we have no idea where they are heading. They made no mention of it. I know what town we were likely heading to simply by the direction, but I have no idea why, what they hope to accomplish there, or where they will head next. Alright, send word ahead. They are probably heading to Yavisyl Town. We’ll try one more time to get the dragonkin before they reach the town. The Council wants him before their hunter finds him. The dragonkin hunting for him knows him and may actually listen to what the rogue has to say. And, if that happens, there may be more trouble for the Council. We must capture him first. While we are waiting to try again, let us learn as much as we can about blue dragonkin.” With that, they turned and headed back into the forest.

About one more week into travel, Jaejoong decided to take another path. He called over to the others, “This may take us a day longer than originally planned, but I think Daelon may have at least been able to determine what town we were heading for, and I’d rather not run into another ambush.” Both Yoochun and Junsu nodded understanding.

They still made good time and the last couple weeks travel was uneventful. They made it into town only one day later than they originally planned. They all dismounted at the stables and got the horses taken care of. After that, they headed to the nearest tavern to see about rooms for the night and if there was any information about Valretia’s arrival.

As they entered the tavern, Yoochun and Junsu headed over to a booth, sat down, and got a good look around the place. Jaejoong headed over to the bartender. He got the bartender’s attention and asked, “Do you have any rooms available? I would need two. And I’m looking for a druid named Valretia. I heard she’d be here or nearby soon.”

The bartender nodded, “I’ve got plenty of rooms. And Valretia hasn’t arrived yet. She should be here later tonight but she’ll want rest before she’ll see anyone. Best idea is to go see her tomorrow morning. When she’s here, she stays in a cabin to the east on the outskirts of town. Do you just want the rooms or do you want meals as well?” Jaejoong negotiated a price for the two rooms and meals for all three of them and paid.

He headed to the booth that Yoochun and Junsu were at. “Food will be here soon. I got us rooms for the night. Valretia will be here later, but we’ll go see her in the morning. I figure we could use the rest anyway.” Jaejoong gave Junsu the second room key and when the food arrived, they ate.

After eating at the tavern, the three of them decided to have a look around town. Yoochun and Junsu decided to go check out some shops to see if they could get some supplies they might need after this. Jaejoong decided to go see the smith about a silver broadsword and maybe silver tipped arrows as well. The smith actually had a silver broadsword that someone had commissioned but never returned to pay for, so Jaejoong bought it. As for the arrows, the smith was willing to make them but said they wouldn’t be ready until late the next morning. Jaejoong was fine with that as he could pick them up after they spoke with the druid and before they left the town. He paid the smith in advance and then met Yoochun and Junsu back at the tavern for some drinks before the evening meal. Of course, Junsu drank very little as he didn’t really like alcohol. After the meal, they headed to their rooms for some sleep.

They got up early the next morning, ate breakfast, and then headed out to the cabin that the bartender gave them directions to. It was a bit of a walk. Jaejoong had never met this woman before and did not know what she was like. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

An elderly woman opened the door. She was about 5’3” with long flowing grey hair and dark green eyes. She wore the brown robes of druidry. “What do you need?” She asked as she looked at Jaejoong curiously. 

“I am looking for Valretia. I was sent by the Goddess, Letalia, to ask for some information.”

“Come in. But only you. The other two must wait outside.” Yoochun and Junsu nodded and waited out by a tree as Jaejoong entered the cabin. Once inside, the old woman sat down in a chair and motioned for Jaejoong to do the same. Once seated, the old woman spoke, “I am Valretia. But, you must prove who you are before I tell you anything.”

Jaejoong was not surprised and showed her the necklace that he had been given. “I am Jaejoong, son of the Goddess, Letalia. Is this proof enough?”

“Yes, it is. I shall tell you what I know of the Zelkaven Sword. Yes, I know that is what you came seeking information about. You should already know how the sword was created, so I shall skip that. The sword has many capabilities. It will make you stronger and faster. It won’t allow it’s user to be defeated in battle by predicting the movements of opponents. It will also teach magic to those who wish it. But, one of my favorite abilities is that no follower of the Light can truly wield it. Should they try, the sword seems to possess them for as long as they wield it. It is believed that Zel put a piece of his own soul into the sword.”

“That could come in very useful. Now all I need to know is where it is.”  
“That I am unsure of. There is now a village where the sword originally fell. It is called Trethid Village. That is where I suggest you look next. It is a two or three week ride to the north east. There may be information there. There are no trails leading there though. That is why it may take two to three weeks. Maybe even more.”

“I shall do that then. Thank you.”

“Oh, one more thing before you leave. Do you know what that necklace can be used for?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Your rival has a brother, a druid. So, I can sense that they are very close and shall be here later, possibly around noon, I believe. You may wish to use the necklace to lay a trap that will slow them down some.”

“That is a good idea. Goodbye.” With that, Jaejoong left the cabin and walked back to his friends, thinking. “We need to talk. I have a plan that may aid us in finding out more information about the others who are also searching for the sword.” He motioned Yoochun and Junsu to follow him into the forest where they were less likely to be overheard. “I’m going to call a snake, outside of town, to attack Darian. It won’t do much more than slow him down. And if I did just that, then I would still gain no real information on those with him.” The others nodded. That was true. “So, I propose, that one of you, and I think Junsu would be best, but I’m not saying it has to be, find a way to travel with them. We will be a bit ahead and when we get to the village where the sword fell, now called Trethid Village, which ever one of you stayed with them could then give us information on those who are with Darian.”

Junsu knew he was the best choice. He was usually fairly friendly, if a little scary sometimes. He was still good with people and made friends easily. Plus, if anything went wrong, he could get our by changing and flying away. “I’m fine with doing it. How do you want to work this out? Do you want me to meet them when they’re still in town or when they’re leaving? Or after the trap? The timing has to be right if we don’t want them to suspect me.”

Yoochun had an idea for that one. “How about you try and meet them when they first enter town. Maybe in the tavern. They’re going to have to go to the tavern to find out where Valretia’s cabin is. That way, you won’t even know where or when the trap will spring. That way they won’t think you knew anything about that.”

Jaejoong smiled. He knew he was friends with these two for a reason. “Sounds like a plan.” Jaejoong described Darian so Junsu would know who he was. Then, they headed back into town toward the stables. “Junsu, you should head over to the tavern and wait there. Hopefully, you can think of a way to approach them when they get here. Oh, and we’ll take your horse with us in case something goes wrong and you need to leave quickly. You can use the extra horse while with Darian. Yoochun, you and I will head out and set the trap. Then, we’ll meet in a few weeks in Trethid Village and go from there. Sound good?”

Both Yoochun and Junsu nodded. Junsu headed off to the tavern to wait for Darian and his group. He decided to wait by the bar because that was likely the best place to introduce himself to them when they asked for directions. He also decided that, even though it was not yet noon, he would have something to eat while he waited.

Jaejoong and Yoochun went to the smith’s first to get the arrows he said would be ready by then. Once they had the arrows, they headed to the stables and got the three horses and headed out. They rode for about two hours before Jaejoong stopped by a copse of trees. Jaejoong dismounted and removed his necklace. He held the necklace in one hand and summoned a snake with it.

In just a seconds, a large 20’ long snake slithered out of the copse of trees and approached Jaejoong. He was very surprised at the size of the snake. He spoke to it, “I am being followed. His name is Darian. He should have something on him to identify him as the son of the God, Vasilis. I want you to delay him for as long as you can. He should pass by here either tonight or tomorrow sometime.”

The snake seemed to nod and then climbed a tree to wait in ambush. Jaejoong put the necklace back on and remounted his horse. Then, he and Yoochun headed off at a trot towards Trethid Village.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darian's group meets Junsu.

The travel toward Yavisyl Town went fairly smoothly for five and a half weeks. There were very minor incidents, mostly when hunting. Darian was happy that things went so well but was suspicious while traveling. He did not expect much trouble but there was always something. Darian knew that there were usually raiders along most main roads and some of the more unused ones as well. He was very surprised that they hadn’t run into any.

That was about to change. Just as they rounded a bend, there were a bunch of the rathoul standing in the road, blocking their way. Darian made a quick count as he and the others dismounted expecting a fight, except for Azul. Azul was a druid and did not fight, therefore he stayed on his horse. There were ten rathoul standing in the road. Everyone drew their weapons and Darian stepped forward, “What are you doing here?”

One of the rathoul stepped forward and spoke, “You are not the ones we were expecting. But, you’ll have to do for now. We intend to kill you to hone our skills.” At this, the rathoul all advanced towards Darian and his friends. Vaylien stepped forward and stood next to Darian with her sword ready. The two of them easily fell into their old fighting stances and prepared for their opponents.

Shakita stood next to Jarith on the left side of the road and a little back from Darian and Vaylien’s positions in the center. Yunho and Changmin moved over to the right and a little behind Darian and Vaylien’s position as well. The rathoul, being non-human were easily able to tell that most of the group was also non-human but did not know what kind most of them were. But, some of them, having faced one dragonkin before, were able to recognize that Changmin was a dragon. So, they decided to split up into two groups of three and one group of four. The group of four advanced towards Changmin and Yunho.

The three that advanced on Shakita and Jarith were caught off guard when Shakita shifted to her wolf form and attacked the first one that got close enough. She knew that, so far, only silver seemed to affect them and she wanted to see if that remained true as she bit one of them in the shoulder. To her surprise, and pleasure, she was able to latch on and pull the rathoul down to the ground and kill him with her teeth. As the other two were watching, Jarith took advantage of their surprise and killed the one nearest him with a thrust of his silver long sword to its throat. 

As three advanced on Darian and Vaylien, they knew to be careful as they noticed that the weapons the two of them held were silver. Two of the rathoul pulled daggers from their sleeves and quickly threw one each at Darian and Vaylien. Darian blocked the dagger, easily this time, with his sword. Vaylien caught the dagger, quickly replaced it with one of her own silver daggers before it was noticed, and threw it back at the one who threw it. The rathoul thought it would be easy to catch the blade, so he made no move to get out of the way. What he didn’t expect was that because Vaylien was not human, she had more strength than a normal human would. The blade easily passed through his hands and stuck into his chest. He had never noticed that the blade had been changed. As he fell, Vaylien turned towards the third rathoul.

The four rathoul that approached Yunho and Changmin noticed that their weapons were also silver. They were not happy that these people were prepared to face them. It could not be a coincidence that two groups had silver weapons. They decided to split into two groups. Two of them approached Yunho and the other two went for Changmin. 

The two that chose to fight Yunho attacked quickly to try and catch him off guard. But, Yunho was a very well trained hand to hand fighter. He easily dodged to the side of the first one while lunging at the second. The second did not expect the move and Yunho scored a hit across its stomach. The first one turned around but Yunho was already turned around and facing it while also watching the second as it recovered as best it could from the strike. The first rathoul lunged forward with its sword, thrusting for Yunho’s chest. Yunho used his right clawed weapon to catch the sword and plunged his left clawed weapon into the rathoul’s chest. The rathoul fell away, dead at his feet. Yunho turned to face the injured rathoul.

As the last two prepared to attack Changmin, he quickly nocked an arrow and loosed it at one of them. It was not expecting the attack and was struck in the chest and died. As he faced the second rathoul, he decided to see if his breath weapon would work against them as he had seen Shakita kill one with her teeth. So, it was worth the try. As the rathoul approached, Changmin put his bow away and breathed a flame onto his right palm. The rathoul thought that Changmin had decided to go hand-to-hand so he thrust his sword at his chest. Changmin caught the blade with his right hand, cutting his palm just a bit, and used magic to flare the fire down the blade and onto the rathoul. Unfortunately, the rathoul simply disappeared. It seemed that only silver or a shifter could truly harm the rathoul.

At this point, the battle was over. Those rathoul who were not dead, or disappeared, fled the scene realizing that they had no chance against the group and a good chance of actually dying. Vaylien went over to the rathoul she killed with her dagger, retrieved it, wiped it on her pant leg to clean it, and re-sheathed it at her wrist.

They all headed back to their horses and started to remount. Darian stopped Shakita before she could mount her horse, “Shakita, why did you choose to shift? You know that that was dangerous.” He was a little concerned because he knew that she could have put herself in serious danger by revealing what she was. But, he wanted to know if she had realized the risk she took or if she had just wanted to show off.

Shakita turned towards her father, “I know that the rathoul can be killed by silver but I wanted to see if there was another way or if that was the only way. Turns out I can kill them with my teeth. Plus, I have very keen senses and I knew that there was no one else around except us and the rathoul. And, only Yunho has never seen me shift before. And, since Changmin trusts him, so do I. I’m sorry I never told you that Jarith knew. But, it didn’t seem important at the time.”

Darian nodded. “I understand. I just wanted to make sure that you didn’t just react. I would usually trust your judgement but I was concerned. It appears you have matured over these past few years. I am proud of you.” He smiled and motioned for Shakita to mount her horse and returned to his horse and mounted as well. Then, they headed off again. There were no more incidents for the rest of the trip.

They arrived in Yavisyl Town just after noon. They took the horses to the stables to have them looked after. Darian told the others to wait for him outside as he went to the tavern to ask about Valretia. As he entered the tavern, he was curious when he saw a young man with blue hair sitting at the bar but he had other things to think about. He approached the bartender and asked about Valretia. The blue haired young man walked over to him, “She arrived last night. I can show you to the cabin she’s staying at. It’s not easy to find. My name is Junsu by the way.”

Darian was about to accept when the young man gave him his name. Darian remembered that the rogue that Changmin was looking for was named Junsu. He smiled at Junsu, This couldn’t possibly be the same Junsu, he seems very friendly, Darian thought to himself. “Sure, Junsu. Thank you. My name is Darian. I have some friends outside waiting for me, shall we go?”

Junsu saw Darian pause for a moment and realized that Darian recognized his name. But, then, he seemed to shake it off. “Sure. I don’t see why not.” Darian and Junsu headed out of the tavern together. Once outside and heading towards Darian’s friends, Junsu realized why Darian recognized his name. While he did not recognize Changmin, they had never seen each other’s human forms, he knew immediately that he was a silver dragonkin. Junsu had given Darian his real name because he thought that, maybe, explaining his true situation might be his way to travel with him. He knew that Darian’s group would be searching for the sword and not a rogue dragon, but that didn’t help his nerves all of a sudden. He did his best to school his features and give nothing away. He had only said his name was Junsu, not Xia Junsu so there was a chance. And, he did not know how many dragons actually knew he was considered rogue. He hoped that this one did not know enough about him. But, inside he was shaking now, this could go very bad for him if this was someone working for the Council.

As Darian and Junsu approached the group, Changmin immediately realized the young man was a blue dragonkin. He had never seen this one’s human form before so he did not recognize him. He was curious who it was because most blues had an innate hatred for humans. His friend Junsu had been the first, and only, blue dragonkin who genuinely seemed to like humans. Darian stopped in front of his friends and pulled Junsu beside him, as he had noticed the young man seemed a little nervous, and introduced everyone, “These are my friends and traveling companions. This is my daughter Shakita, my best friend Vaylien, then Jarith, Yunho, and finally Changmin.” When Junsu heard the name Changmin, his eyes got wider and he started to shake a little, he had not expected that. He knew that Changmin would know he was a rogue. “Guys, this is Junsu, he’s going to show us where Valretia is staying.”

Once Changmin heard that the blue’s name was Junsu, he took a good look at him. The young man was visibly shaking a little and would not make eye contact with him. He had to be sure though, so he approached him and whispered just loud enough for Junsu and Darian to hear, “Xia?”

Junsu looked down and slowly nodded. He was lost. He knew now that this was indeed his friend, Changmin. They had grown up together. He also knew that Changmin was one of those usually hired by the Council to hunt rogues. He knew he couldn’t run. Changmin and he had always competed when they were young and speed was one of the things that neither of them could ever truly beat the other in. And, Junsu realized, he didn’t want to run from his friend even though he was scared of what might happen now.

Changmin was very surprised. He had thought that he would never see his friend, Junsu, again. He had almost hoped not to. But, now, here they were face to face and he didn’t know what to do. Had Junsu tried to run, it would have been an easy choice to chase him. But, he hadn’t, which suggested that Changmin really needed to find a way to talk to him. What he had been told Junsu had done was punishable by death amongst the dragonkin. Yet, still, he could not bring himself to believe that Junsu was capable of it. He pulled Junsu aside to speak somewhat privately, “You must know I’ve been ordered to capture you. Why did you not run when you first saw me? If you run now, I will not give chase. I owe you that much.”

Junsu smiled softly, Changmin had always been a true friend. “I will not run, my friend. Not from you. But, will you listen to what I have to say, or will you take me to the Council now?” He waited for Changmin’s answer. His life depended on getting Changmin to listen to him instead of taking him to the Council. They would kill him before he could ever face a trial.

“I will listen to you. As much as I know I should take you to the Council right now, I cannot do it. But, it will have to wait until later. I do swear that I will listen to what you have to say.” Changmin could not bring himself to turn Junsu in just yet. He had always wanted Junsu’s side of the story and was surprised at himself when he just told him to go ahead and run. He had not realized, until now, that he was more loyal to his friend than to the council.

“Okay. I know you will keep your word. Thank you, my friend.” They returned to the group. “I’ll show you to Valretia’s cabin now.” Junsu led the way as Darian and his friends followed behind. Junsu was now in a bit more of a crisis than he had ever been. He was now wondering exactly where did he truly owe his loyalty. Changmin had been his best friend since childhood. He was only a few years older than Changmin. He was willing to listen to Junsu’s side of the story and give him a chance. He knew the Council would never give him that chance. But, Jaejoong had helped him when he had gotten away from the Council seven years ago. He had taken care of Junsu’s injuries at the time and they had been severe, Junsu had nearly died. He owed Jaejoong his life. But, with Changmin offering to actually listen to him, he may be saving Junsu’s life now. He needed to decide what to do before they left the town or it’d be too late. Either he told them the whole truth, including information about Jaejoong, before they left or he sided with Jaejoong and did not mention Jaejoong at all. But, if Jaejoong was his choice, he would have to leave after the talk with Changmin. Changmin would know that Junsu had known something when they encountered the snake. He knew Junsu too well. Junsu would be unable to hide that from him. So, if his choice was Jaejoong, he would have to fly to catch up with him. He had a lot to think about while Darian was talking with Valretia.

Once they reached the cabin, Darian walked up and knocked on the door. An elderly woman opened the door, “What do you need?” 

Darian smiled, “I am looking for Valretia. I was sent by the God, Vasilis. He told me I might find some information here.”

“Come in. But, only you. The others must wait outside.” Vaylien nodded and led the others ever to a nearby tree as Darian entered the cabin. 

Once they got to the tree, Vaylien approached Junsu to talk to him privately. He seemed lost in thought and she couldn’t help but notice that, earlier, he had actually seemed scared. Plus, she thought she may have overheard Changmin call him Xia, which meant that this was the rogue dragon he had been looking for. “Are you okay? I can see that there seems to be something bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?”

Junsu was surprised. He had hoped he’d been able to hide his feelings, but apparently not very well. He looked at Vaylien and realized that she was not human, and relaxed just a little. It was possible that she could have very keen senses “Sorry, I’m just really nervous. There is a lot for me to think about. And, my life may depend on what happens here. So, I’m … I don’t even know right now.”

“I overheard Changmin call you Xia. And, he has mentioned that, if that’s true, you are a rogue. So, I guess I can understand why you would be nervous. But, that doesn’t seem to be all of it. I can sense that there is more to it than that.”

“Yes, I am a rogue. But, there are extenuating circumstances. I really hope that Changmin will believe what I have to say. I’m scared that it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other that he won’t trust me anymore. I won’t lie to him. But, I don’t know if he’ll believe that. And, another problem is that, should he believe me, he’ll want to help. I know he will. And, that would put him, and possibly all of you, in danger. And, I don’t want to put him in danger nor you guys when you barely even know me. Plus, I have another friend that I’ve been traveling with who needs my help right now. I just don’t know what to do. I intend to tell Changmin about what happened, but I don’t know what to do after. Do I stay and let him help, or do I go back to my other friend who will be waiting for me? I’m so lost and confused right now.” Junsu didn’t know why he was even telling Vaylien all this, but he felt he had to talk to someone. This conflict was truly bothering him a lot.

“Well, what does each friendship mean to you? If Changmin decides to get involved, and it does involve us, we will likely choose to accept the danger as well. Darian trusts Changmin. And, if Changmin trusts you, then Darian will as well. And, we follow Darian.” Vaylien did not know who this other friend was but it was obvious that Junsu was conflicted between him and Changmin.

“I have known Changmin for a long time. I may not look it but I am 52 years old. Changmin and I were childhood friends, although, I’m a bit older than he is. This other friend saved my life seven years ago. We’ve only known each other for seven years now, but I owe him my life. I can’t just ignore that.”

“A life debt is no small thing. And, I know that childhood friendship is not either. So, I see your dilemma. I think that I would feel the same in your shoes. But, I believe that, even though you have known Changmin longer, a life debt is more important. If he saved your life, then you owe it to him to be there when he needs you.” A life debt was a very serious thing amongst shifters. You did not break a life debt.

“Thank you, Vaylien. I still feel bad about it though. But, you are right. Even among dragons, a life debt is not something to take lightly.” Junsu felt a little better about being able to make the right decision now.

Once Darian was inside, the old woman sat down in a chair and motioned for Darian to do the same. Once seated, the old woman spoke, “I am Valretia. But, you must prove who you are before I tell you anything.”

Darian nodded, he was not surprised. He pulled the necklace out from under his shirt and showed it to her. “I am Darian. The God, Vasilis, is my father.”

She nodded. “I shall tell you what I know of the Zelkaven Sword. Yes, I know that is what you came seeking information about. You should already know how the sword was created, so I shall skip that. The sword has many capabilities. It will make you stronger and faster. It won’t allow it’s user to be defeated in battle by predicting the movements of opponents. It will also teach magic to those who wish it.” Here, she purposely left out the last of the information she had given Jaejoong. She did not want Darian to know what would happen should he choose to wield the sword. “That is all the information I have on the sword. There is now a village where the sword originally fell. It is called Trethid Village. That is where I suggest you look next. It is a two or three week ride to the north east. There may be information there. There are no trails leading there though. That is why it may take two to three weeks. Maybe even more.”

Darian nodded, “Thank you. I shall head there next.” With that, he headed out of the cabin and met up with his friends by the tree. He knew that Changmin and Junsu needed to talk and he thought this might be the best time for them to do so. “Changmin, you and Junsu might be able to find somewhere to talk around here. And, now is the best time, before we head off again.” He did not know Junsu at all but decided he would trust Changmin’s decision on whether he stayed with them or not.

Vaylien spoke up, “I think, maybe, we should all hear what Junsu has to say. It may affect all of us in the future.” She felt that this might be important at some point.

Changmin smiled, “You are right. This may affect everyone. Thank you.” Junsu nodded. He had decided that it would be best for him to remain silent about Jaejoong. The man had saved his life, he could not betray him. But, he wanted to explain what happened with the Council to Changmin. He felt bad not telling Changmin about Jaejoong, but he felt he really had no choice. His friendship with Changmin meant a lot to him, but his friendship with Jaejoong was just as important. He decided that, once this conversation was finished, he would leave. He dared not stay with them at this point. 

Changmin turned to Junsu, “So, tell me your side of the story. What happened? Why did you run away? And, why did you not come straight to me? I may have been able to help you. They say you killed a gold and that she was pregnant. Plus, they say you killed one of her guards as well. Please tell me that they are wrong.”

Upon hearing this, Jarith stepped forward. “Wait a moment. Junsu is a rogue?” He kept a dagger on him that was made from a dragon’s fang. He did not pull it yet and hoped that he wouldn’t have to use it. It was one of the few weapons that could harm a dragon in their true form. Dragons were vulnerable in human form, but to fight, most would take their true form.

Junsu immediately got defensive, “I did not kill her! The guard did! I was trying to protect her.” He stopped, realizing what he was doing, he took a deep breath and sighed, “Sorry, let me start over. I did not realize how bad this really was. I thought this would just be over disobeying an order, and maybe killing the guard. I never thought they’d accuse me of killing the gold.” He took a calming breath before he continued. “I was called into the Council. But, what happened after that is not what they said happened.”

As he spoke, Vaylien could actually see the events as they had happened. She was surprised at the insight she got.

*** Start Flashback/Vision ***

Junsu entered the Council chambers. This was the first time he had ever been called here. It was so huge that it could easily hold over 100 dragonkin in their true form. He was in his true dragon form. Amongst the dragons he did not take his human form. This way they thought that he did not like humans. Only his friend, Changmin, knew that he genuinely liked humans. But, even Changmin had never seen his human form. He approached the Council and bowed before them. “How may I be of service?”

“Xia Junsu, we have a need of your unique abilities. You are the first dragon we have ever known who can tell us if a gold is lying. Normally, only gold dragons acquire this skill to tell when one is lying but they can never see it in one of their own. We have seen, and heard from others, that you do not suffer this malady and can even tell when another blue is lying. Plus, your senses are the keenest of any blue we have ever seen. We have a problem that we need your assistance in as we believe a gold is lying to us.” The lead Council member gestured to a couple guards standing near another entrance that looked like it led further underground. They opened the gates and in walked two guards leading a gold dragon in chains to the center of the chamber. “Xia, please look and tell us if this gold is pregnant.”

Junsu was surprised. He did not know that his abilities were known even by the Council. It was an honor for him to assist them in any way possible. He approached the gold and looked her over. “Yes, she is indeed pregnant.”

The lead councilor nodded. “Can you tell how many she will have? And, if the hatchlings are whole and healthy?” The gold struggled a little but the guards held her firm. She looked directly at Junsu pleadingly and shook her head.

Junsu did his best to ignore her. He really wanted to be useful to the Council. “I can tell she will have only one. Any more than that and I cannot tell.” He was surprised when he noticed only one hatchling, that was highly unusual in dragons, especially golds, unless they had mated with someone who was not a dragonkin. He himself was one of ten hatchlings but only he had survived.

The councilor turned to the gold dragon, “Who is the father of this hatchling? Is he even a dragonkin?”

“He is a white dragon from the far north.” The gold answered.

“She is lying,” Junsu spoke up quickly.

“Can you tell exactly what the lie is, Xia?” The whole Council was very curious as to exactly how much the young blue could read about a lie. What Junsu didn’t know was that, should he answer this question well, he made himself into a target for any who were not fully honest. And, even the Council was not always fully honest in their dealings.

“Yes, from what I was able to sense, the father is neither a white, nor a dragonkin.” Junsu had no idea how this answer would affect the next few actions.

“We thought as much.” The councilor turned back to the gold dragon. “Tell us who the father is. Now!”

The gold female cowered down, “I will not tell you.” She knew that this could go very bad for her, but she still hoped that, if she did not tell them, they would let the child live at least.

The councilor turned to Junsu again. “I have also heard that you have sometimes made someone speak the truth when they did not wish to. Is this true?”

Junsu nodded and turned towards the gold. He focused his energies on getting her to talk. He did not know if his ability would work on the gold dragon or not but he was willing to try. He really just wanted to prove himself useful to the Council. Within a minute, the gold was crying to the councilor, “The father is a human. I do not know his name. I refuse to mate with a dragon! I hate our kind!”

The Council was surprised at what Junsu was able to get her to admit. They had expected that he might be able get her to admit who the father was but they never expected him to also get her to tell them the reason behind it. Especially a reason like that. Even Junsu was surprised. He had gotten other dragons to admit more, but this was a gold, one of the more powerful types of dragonkin. He should not be strong enough to get this type of information from her. Being able to tell if she was lying was not very hard, that was a matter of senses. But, being able to make her tell the truth herself was being able to overpower her mental blocks. Junsu knew he should not have been able to do that. No blue dragon could ever hope to overpower a gold mentally.

“Thank you Xia. You have proven very informative.” The Council all looked to one another, “There is one more thing we would have you do for us. As she is chained, and therefore vulnerable, we want you to kill her.” They figured that, should Junsu actually obey, then they could easily charge him with killing a pregnant dragon and have him killed. Or, if he refused, then they could frame him for her murder and still have him killed. Either way, they would be rid of a potential problem in the future when he truly woke to his full powers. They were beginning to suspect that he was not simply a blue dragon. He may be a combination of a blue and one of the others. Maybe even a gold. In any case, he was too dangerous to let live.

Junsu was stunned, “But, she is pregnant. It is against our laws to kill a pregnant female.”

“We understand that. But, there are extenuating circumstances here. For one, the father is a human. I know we usually over look this. But, the pregnant dragon in question, is a gold and has probably tainted the hatchling. Gold dragons are getting rare these days. We cannot let this go unpunished. And, we will not let her tainted half-dragon child live.”

Junsu could not believe what he was hearing. “I will not kill her. I cannot do it. I see no reason to harm her or an innocent child. And I can tell that even you do not believe that she tainted the hatchling.”

“So be it.” He turned to the guards holding the gold’s chains. “Kill her.” The guards unsheathed their claws and turned towards the gold.

Junsu could not just stand there and watch. So, he rushed to stand in front of the gold, between her and the guards, and unsheathed his claws. The guards were surprised that Junsu was this quick, they knew he was fast, but not this fast. The first guard lunged for Junsu’s throat. His teeth only caught air as Junsu pulled away. Junsu swiped at the guard’s head with his left claw. The guard was not fast enough to avoid the attack and got clawed in the face, almost losing an eye.

The second guard tried to circle around and get to the gold while Junsu was busy with the first guard. But, Junsu saw him after he swatted the first guard. As the first guard was recovering, Junsu charged the second. The guard did not see him coming and Junsu was able to grab him by the jugular in his jaws. Junsu didn’t think to control his jaw pressure and bit down on the guard’s neck. Having the guard in the position he did, it killed the guard. Junsu let go quickly, he had not intended to kill the guard, simply stop him. But, he had no time to contemplate what he had done as the other guard had finally closed the distance and was trying to claw him. 

At this point, the Council called for more guards. They could not believe that Junsu was strong enough to kill one of the guards. Guards were usually brown dragons and they were known for being very hard to overpower. And, here, in just moments, Junsu had accomplished just that. That meant that he was closer to coming fully into his powers than they liked. They needed to kill him now. A dragon usually came fully into his powers when he reached approximately 100 years old. Junsu was only 45 years old.

Ten more guards rushed into the room and jumped into the fight, grabbing Junsu’s arms and legs, and pinning his head to the ground. They had to claw into his back thighs and his forelegs to restrain him. But, he still kept fighting. They decided that they had him subdued enough with two guards each holding a back leg, one guard each holding his forelegs, one guard holding his neck, and a last guard restraining his head. So, the other three guards approached the pregnant gold. Two of the guards grabbed the chains and held her tight while the third guard, the one Junsu had clawed in the face, grabbed her by the neck and dug his claws in, killing her instantly. Then, the guards rolled her corpse over and made sure to kill the unborn child as well.

Junsu stopped fighting the guards at this point. There was nothing more he could do for the gold now. The guards relaxed their hold on him just a little once he stopped fighting them. He couldn’t believe the Council could do something like this. But, it was about to get much worse for him.

“Xia Junsu, since you have disobeyed the Council and even fought and killed one of our guards, you are hereby sentenced to death. Plus, your abilities could cause us trouble in the future. Guards!” Junsu immediately resumed fighting. He couldn’t believe that they would kill him over something like this. He was able to free himself by whipping his head and kicking out with his forelegs. He got clawed some more by doing so, but he was able to work himself free. The four at his back legs were a little harder to remove, but with his forelegs and head free, he was able to whip around and catch them off guard and bite one of them in the foreleg. 

Once he was free, he ran for it. One of the guards immediately opened his wings and jumped onto Junsu’s back and grabbed him with his claws. Junsu rolled onto his back to try and dislodge him. It worked, but before he let go, he was able to dig his claws deep into Junsu’s back. Junsu quickly rolled to his feet, opened his wings, and leapt into the air. He flew up to the exit at the top of the Council chambers and made his escape.

Minutes later, he landed deep in a forest and shifted to his human form. It was extremely painful, but he felt it was necessary. The Council did not know what he looked like in human form. He didn’t dare go to his friend, Changmin. They would probably kill them both for all he knew. 

As he walked for a bit, he saw what looked like a village. It looked like there was a fire in the village. He hoped that, with the chaos of a fire, it would keep them from asking him questions. He headed towards the village as best he could. He knew he was badly injured and may not make it to the village, but he had to try.

*** End Flashback/Vision ***

“I never thought that they would send you after me, Changmin. You were the only one likely to listen to me should you find me. But, that does explain why the rathoul thought to capture me as well. They were probably hired to try and get to me before you did. The Council couldn’t very well hire another rogue hunter. That would look suspicious and lead others to question them.”

They all listened very carefully to everything Junsu said. Changmin and Jarith were both able to tell if any of what Junsu said was a lie. They couldn’t believe what Junsu was saying, but he was not lying at all. Changmin asked, “Wait, rathoul attacked you? This is a lot to take in. I know you are telling the truth. You and I have never been able to lie to one another.” He thought about it for a moment. It made sense that the Council would be angry about a gold getting with a human. There were so few golds out there. So, he was not totally surprised that the Council would do something like this. And, it made perfect sense for them to try and put the blame on Junsu. His ability to always recognize a lie was well known amongst the dragons. It now made sense why they called Junsu to get rid of the gold. They probably would have blamed him for her death even if he hadn’t fought to protect her and had him killed to hide their crime. “We need to keep you away from the Council. I know you wouldn’t have wanted me involved, but I am, and have always been, your friend. We shall figure this out together. We can go to the elves. They would call a trial. Then, when they heard your side of the story, you would no longer be considered rogue. Plus, they would investigate the Council.”

Jarith agreed with Changmin on this one. “The elves would believe you, Junsu.” Junsu looked over at Jarith and realized that he was an elf. He was surprised that the others didn’t seem to know this.

“Thank you both. You have no idea how good it feels to finally be able to talk about this. But, I cannot risk the Council seeing us together. And, you are not going to be happy with me, Changmin. When I told you that they nearly killed me before I could get away, I meant it. I almost died. I was badly wounded and could no longer get away from them. But, I was in the forest near a village that was burning down. I think it may have been the village that used to train knights. I had taken human form to try and hide but I knew that wouldn’t help if they found only me. There were no other dragons around. Even though no one knew my human form, it would be obvious if they saw me then. A young man saw me stumble and fall and came to my aid. He tended my wounds and kept me hidden from others. He even helped me when some of the wounds got infected. I would not have survived had he not helped me. There were times I was delirious and, apparently, during those times, I told him what I was and what had happened. I would have died if it had not been for him. So, you must understand, I owe him my life. So, this is hard for me. But, my loyalty is now split. I am traveling with him now and he needs my help. I will return to him once we finish talking here. I cannot stay any longer than that. I will try to find a way to get to the elves. You are right, they may help me. But, for now, I cannot abandon my other friend. I am sorry I cannot tell you who he is, but I cannot. I owe him a life debt and cannot betray him.”

Changmin was very surprised. He had not known how badly injured Junsu had gotten fleeing the Council. And, he knew that Junsu would not lie to him now. “Why can you not tell me?”

Junsu smiled sadly, “Truly, I wish I could. It would make things so much easier for me. But, I cannot. Please, understand, I would not do this if I did not have other loyalties to consider. Hopefully, one day, this won’t be a problem.”

Changmin nodded. “I understand. And I will accept your explanation. I don’t like it. But, I understand it. Goodbye, my friend. Hopefully, we will see each other soon.”

Junsu nodded, “I would like that. Goodbye.” With that, he shifted to his dragon form, which he had not taken in quite some time, and flew off. His dragon form was a deep but bright blue and approximately 18’ long. As Junsu took his dragon form, all of them saw that there were some deep scars along his back and several other scars along all four legs. Changmin wished Junsu did not have to leave, but he understood that, sometimes, you must do what you feel is the right thing. And, obviously, Junsu felt he was doing just that.

Changmin turned to his friends. “We should probably go ahead and get going.”

Darian nodded. “At least you were able to talk. Now we know what really happened. Maybe we should go to the elves on his behalf. We could all use a rest though. I think we’ll get rooms at the tavern for the night. We’ll leave in the morning. Hopefully, we can find a way to talk to the elves during this quest.”

They all headed to the tavern and Darian paid for rooms and meals for them all. Vaylien headed into her room to think about what she had seen after they all ate. Once everyone was headed to their rooms for the evening, Darian approached Changmin, “Do you want to talk about what happened today?” Ever since the talk with Junsu, he had seemed lost in thought, like something didn’t sit well with him about it.

Changmin nodded and motioned Darian to join him and Yunho in their room. He didn’t mind if Yunho knew about their conversation. Yunho would just listen for the most part. As soon as they shut the door, Changmin spoke, “This whole thing confuses me. I know that Junsu was telling the truth! I know it! But, why would the Council do such a thing? And, why will he not let me help him?”

Darian nodded in understanding, “Maybe he doesn’t want you to get hurt. We all saw how badly scarred he was. He has reason to be worried. I trust you. You know this. If you say he did not lie, then I believe you. So, that means that the Council is corrupt. But, they still have power. He could very easily be worried that they may find out that he talked to you. And, if he was to travel with us, that could put all of us in danger. Just think about it. He may have some very valid reasons for choosing to leave.”

“Alright, I will think about it. Thank you, Darian. And, goodnight.” With that, Darian went to his room and the others all got some rest. 

Yunho was worried for Changmin, “You know, Junsu said he had other loyalties. And that he owed this person his life. You have told me yourself that a life debt is no small thing amongst dragons. Maybe part of his reluctance to stay, or tell you who that person is, is that you won’t like the person he owes his life to.”

Changmin thought about this for a moment. “Perhaps you are right. I knew there was a reason I loved you.” He would never say it amongst others, but he truly loved Yunho.

“I love you too. Now let’s get some rest. We’re going to need it for the travel ahead.” They both got ready for bed and then slept in each other’s arms.

That night, Vaylien had a dream about the past. When Junsu had mentioned that he may have been outside her and Darian’s old village, it triggered something. Neither of them had seen a young man near the village but that didn’t mean much.

*** Dream/Vision***

As Junsu got about half a mile away from the village, he could go no further. His legs hurt too badly and he could no longer stand up, much less walk. He stumbled and fell to the ground. He hoped he would be able to continue soon. He had to find some type of shelter or the Council could find him and, in his condition now, he couldn’t possibly fight them off.

As he lay there, a young man approached him from his left. Junsu didn’t see him at all, nor did he sense him. He was too injured to really pay attention to anything at the moment. As the young man got nearer, he saw that Junsu was severely injured and still bleeding badly. He didn’t know how anyone could survive something like this. He decided to get Junsu’s attention in order to let him know that he was friendly.

“Excuse me. Do you need some help? My name is….” In the dream, Vaylien could not hear the young man’s name nor see his face.

Junsu looked up, startled, and felt dizzy all of a sudden. He couldn’t answer the young man right away because he had to fight to stay conscious. When he regained some control, he looked at the young man, “Sorry, I … I think I do. My… name is… Junsu.”

The young man nodded and helped Junsu stand up. Junsu had to lean heavily on him just to stay up. The young man started heading away from the village. “It looks like you were heading to the village but we can’t go there. The whole village is burning. I don’t know everything that happened. But, the village was attacked. I just made it out when I saw you. I know a nearby cave that we can hide in. I don’t know a lot about first aid but I think I know enough to help you.”

Junsu just nodded, he really couldn’t do anything either way. His injuries were severe. He didn’t have any choice but to let this young man help him. He couldn’t even stand on his own right now.

Once they got to the cave, the young man looked Junsu over. “We’re going to have to remove most of your clothes. I need to get a look at the injuries and hopefully bind them.” Again, Junsu just nodded. The young man helped him take off his shirt and pants. Once he got a good look at the wounds, he whistled softly, “What did this to you? These are deep….Never mind. I’ll be right back. These need to be cleaned before I can bind them and I need a few things in order to do that as well.”

When the young man returned with water, bandages, food, and some things to start a fire, Junsu was passed out. His injuries had finally taken their toll on his body. The young man worked quickly to clean the wounds and bandage them up. He was very worried that Junsu would not survive the night. But, he felt he had to try.

The next morning, the young man checked the bandages and found that the wounds on Junsu’s back had gotten infected. He immediately went out to collect a few herbs that he knew would help, he was no druid but he did know a little bit. He returned as quickly as he could and made a poultice for Junsu’s back. Then, he woke Junsu up so he could get him to eat and drink something. Junsu was delirious the whole time, speaking of dragons, a Council, and how he was attacked. The young man listened as he slowly got Junsu to eat and drink. He was very worried for the wounded man.

It took several weeks for Junsu to recover enough for them to leave the cave. He had nearly died several times during the first two weeks due to recurring infections. But, the young man had finally been able to stop the infections and help Junsu recover his health. Junsu did tell the young man about what had happened when the young man told him about the things he said when he was delirious. Junsu knew he would probably have scars from the attack for the rest of his life. Once he was well enough to travel, both Junsu and the young man headed further away from the village.

*** End Dream/Vision ***

The next morning they all met together for breakfast and then headed to the stables. Vaylien did not talk about her dream, figuring it was not really important right now. But, she did continue to think on it. They saddled and prepared their horses and set off at a trot.


End file.
